Baby, Don't Marry Me
by xxPyRaxx
Summary: Draco Malfoy wants to ask his long-time girlfriend, Magnolia Potter, to marry him but she feels that she shouldn't. So, Draco allows her to try to convince him why he shouldn't marry her. Will Draco be convinced? Song taken from Flower Drum Song musical.
1. Chapter One You are Young and Handsome

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:**

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 1:

_You are young and handsome,  
Romantic as the breath of May.  
Earnestly I speak to you.  
Weigh every word I say._

Chapter One

**~.~**

You are Young and Handsome

Twenty-two year old Draco Malfoy was excited. He was nervous too but he was excited mostly. As soon as his Boss, Harry Potter (he hated to admit that to anyone), released him for the day he barrelled down out of the Auror's Headquarters, but it seemed like he couldn't get out of there fast enough. He ran down the main staircase that lead to all of the main Auror's offices and passed the reception desk, leaving a quick "Good night" to the receptionist in his wake as he ran through the front doors.

As he hurried to the Apparation Point close to the Headquarters, he quickly patted himself down to check if the small precious bundle was still in his suit pocket. It was. He ran down the sidewalk, trying his best in avoiding bumping into others but when he did, he apologized distractedly. His mind only on one thing: getting to the Apparation Point and as soon as he did, he thought of the place he's been waiting to go to since he got the precious box.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Draco landed gracefully on his feet with a soft _thud_, in the middle of the busy hallway of the Hospital. Around him, nurses and doctors rushed by to attend to the patients awaiting their attention. And like on the sidewalk, they bumped into him and they apologized as the past. He looked around at the crowd and caught the attention of a passing nurse by a gentle hand on her arm, which caused her to turn towards him.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know which floor Magnolia Potter is working on today by any chance?" he asked her with a smile.

The nurse nodded, "She's on the fourth floor, Spell Damage".

"Thank you" he said with a nod and allowed her to continue on her way.

He turned away and headed towards the elevator. Once inside, he claimed the floor he wished to go. The elevator doors shut and then it zoomed up to the proper floor before it suddenly stopped and announced the floor.

As soon as the doors slip open, Draco hurried out and the doors slid shut again. Just like the previous floor he was on, the hospital staff hustled in and out of the rooms and down the hallways; some with patients at their sides. He scanned the faces of the nurses that passed close to him but he didn't find who he came to see, that is until he heard her speak.

"Mister Lockheart that is enough" her stern voice travelled out of the room and down the noisy hallway until it reached his ears. He hurried toward it.

His feet pounded against the floor as he ran towards the voice of the women he was in love with and he didn't stop running until he reached the surprisingly opened door of the room. From where he stood, he saw her standing over the confused Gilderoy Lockheart with her hands on her hips, like a mother was scolding her child, and wearing her lime green robe nurses uniform.

"But it's gross" Lockheart pouted in reply.

"You will eat it Mister Lockheart because that is all you are getting. Nothing more and nothing less."

Lockheart, who sat up in his bed, crossed his arms against his chest "I will not eat it."

"Well than you will starve. It is your choice whether or not you chose to eat today and I will tell the rest of the staff not to bring anything else until that plate is clean."

Draco leaning against one side of the open doorway, silently watching the bickering going on in front of him. He has watched Magnolia take the same stance with the same argument with her young daughter about dinner but it was amusing to see her use the same technique on her patients as well as her own child.

"Who are you?" Lockheart asked him and making Draco snap out of his thoughts. At the patient's question and eyes that were no longer on her, Magnolia turned behind her and was taken aback at him.

"Draco?" she asked with surprise before she recomposed herself and turned back towards Lockheart, "Eat Mister Lockheart" and than gestured for Draco to step outside the room and once she was out the door, she shut it behind her.

"Draco, what are you doing here?"

"I have something that I want to ask you".

"Now? I'm kind of busy at the moment. Can't it wait?"

"It will only take a few minutes" he responded as he took the box out of his pocket and got down on one knee in front of her.

"Draco" she stressed as she looked around her to see if Draco was making a scene but it seemed like he was not...yet.

"Maggie, will you marry me?"

Magnolia was both shocked and speechless. Here she stood in her lime green robes with three overall reports that she had to write, her patients waiting to be looked after, a salary to earn and here Draco was, kneeling on the floor in front her with an engagement ring in a royal blue velvet ring box in his hands.

"Oh Draco" she breathed out as she ran a hand through her hair once and she looked up at the ceiling, "You don't want that".

"What?"

"You don't want me to be your wife".

"Why would you think that I wouldn't want you to be my wife?"

"For many reasons. Now please stand up."

With a sigh, he closed the lid of the box as he stood up.

"Why not?"

"You are young Draco, and handsome," she told him as she raised her right hand and rested it on his right cheek "Romantic like the breath of May and I'm serious when I say this. Baby, don't marry me."

"How about this Maggie, if you can convince me with seven reasons to why I can't marry you, than I won't. Sound like a deal?"

Maggie bowed her hand as she thought about his compromise before she raised her head again to look up at him.

"Alright. Seven reasons and you won't ask me again?"

Draco nodded with a smile and bent down to press their lips together in a passionate kiss. The kiss that he knew Maggie couldn't resist and pull away from. As soon as their lips touched, Maggie couldn't help but melt in his arms and her lips. He licked her lips with his tongue, seeking entrance for it which she permitted. Draco held each of her upper arms with a hand to keep her from falling forwards and on her feet. Magnolia's hands came to rest underneath his lower arms. As the kiss deepened and their tongues danced with each other, Maggie couldn't help but lean forward so her chest was pressed against his.

The two of them were enjoying the kiss so much, that neither of them noticed Mungo Bonham, the founder of the hospital, cleared his throat loudly. Instantly, Draco pulled away from Maggie which she didn't really like since she tried to learn forward for more but Draco kept her at arms length.

"Miss Potter" Mungo began and his voice snatched Magnolia out of her pleasure and back into reality.

"Mister Bonham" she gasped as she leaned away from Draco and tore her arms out of his grasp, "It's not what it looks like."

Mungo raised a hand to silence her, "I do not need to hear it. Return to your duties."

"Yes Mister Bonham" she responded as she bowed her head in submission.

Mungo Bonham nodded, "You may say goodbye to you...friend."

"Yes sir" she responded and waited until her boss was was halfway out of the hall before she raised her head, "I should go."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow for lunch".

"Yeah, I'll see you than. Good night" she said to him before she opened the door to Lockheart's room and left Draco to see himself out.

**To Be Continued...?**

What do you think, should I continue it or ditch it?


	2. Chapter Two If You Want a Successful

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Harry Potter_ series, sadly it belongs to J.K. Rowling. The only thing I own is the characters and plot lines that you might not recognize.

(Author's Note: I'm sorry, I forgot to include the disclaimer on the first chapter. I wrote it around two o'clock in the morning, I wasn't thinking clearly.)

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 2:

_If you want to have a successful future  
And be happy as a honey bee,  
With a wife who will always love you,  
Baby, Don't marry me._

Chapter Two

**~.~**

If You Want to Have a Successful Future

"Miss Potter, would you retrieve Lockheart's memory potion on his bedside table please?" a Healer asked her.

The sound of the Healer's voice snapped Magnolia out of her thoughts in which she sank into as quickly as they came into the room. Her thoughts were occupied by Draco's proposal just outside the room the other day and the compromise she had agreed to.

"Uh, yes Healer Johnson" Magnolia responded and went to collect the item that was requested before going back to the patient.

"It's time for you memory potion Mister Lockheart" Healer Johnson announced to the patient who had his back pressed in a corner of the room with his arms raised in gesture to keep them away.

"No!" Lockheart yelled at the two Healers who stood before him.

"Mister Lockheart, you are acting like a child" Magnolia piped in with a stern voice that used with him a lot and her daughter when she acted the same way.

"Am not" he argued.

"Healer Johnson, clearly he won't take it" Magnolia began to say to her partner, "Should we do our usual solution?"

"Perhaps we should" Healer Johnson agreed with a nod. Healer Johnson was a rather strong and muscular man who has no problem helping her restraining patients who violent refuse to drink their required potions to be recovered enough for them to be released. With great ease, Healer Johnson restrained Lockheart from behind and held his arms behind his back. Magnolia came towards them and leaned Lockheart's head back with a hand underneath his chin and pulled open his jaw before she poured the potion down his throat. Automatically, his swallowing reflexes kicked in and Lockheart swallowed the foul tasting potion.

"If you would've just taken it, than we wouldn't have done that Mister Lockheart" Magnolia told him and then turned her attention to her partner, "Thank you for your help Healer Johnson".

"You're welcome Miss Potter" Healer Johnson responded with a nod and a smile. He pulled out his wand and cast a spell to reveal the time in the air, "You better go Miss Potter. I believe you are going to be late for your lunch with Mister Malfoy".

"Yes. I better go".

After her response, Healer Johnson made his way out of the room and back to his department. Magnolia turned to follow her partner's example the Lockheart's call to her stopped her at the door.

"Miss Potter. Y-you wouldn't happen to be related to _Harry _Potter would you? You know, the Saviour of the Wizarding World."

Magnolia heaved a sigh as she placed her hand on the door frame and turned to look at her patient, "Yes Mister Lockheart. I am his younger twin".

"Are you really?"

Magnolia couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Yes Mister Lockheart. You ask me every time I'm in here."

"Oh."

"Good Day, Mister Lockheart" she bade him before she left and locked the door behind her to prevent him from wandering around the hospital or even leave the premises.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Magnolia exited her department and climbed out of the elevator. With ease that only a Quidditch player has, she squeezed her way through the spaces between the crowds of people until she reached the Welcome Witch at the front.

"I'm going for lunch, I'll be back soon" Magnolia called to the witch at the front desk before she got lost in the crowd.

Magnolia walked down the sidewalk with her nurse shoes making a faint _clicking_ sound on the pavement as she walked passed all the small shops. As she made her way towards the Apparation Point, other wizards and witches who were too passing by, all bade her in greetings and small talk before they went on their way to their destination. Every witch or wizard in the Wizarding World knew Magnolia, if not for being the twin of the famous 'Defeater' of Lord Voldemort, than for being the grand Healer that she was. As a Healer, she could identify any sickness or disease with just a simple symptom and find a solution just as quick. When she reached the Apparation Point, she thought of her destination and within seconds, she stood in front of the doors of Auror Headquarters.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

"Hello Miss Potter" the Welcome Witch at the front desk of the Auror Headquarters greeted when she saw Magnolia walk towards her.

"Hi," she asked as she came to a stop at the desk.

The Welcome Witch told her, "I heard that he proposed to you yesterday, is that true?"

Magnolia nodded, "Yeah, right in front of my department too".

"How romantic".

"More like mad timing, he could've waited a little bit longer. Listen; is Malfoy in his office right now?"

"He should be".

"Thanks, I'll talk you later".

Magnolia hurried to catch a closing elevator.

After Magnolia exited the elevator, which was occupied by other Aurors, she made her way down the hall and made a quick stop at her brother's office. When she reached the door, she gave three soft knocks, which was answered a few seconds later. Magnolia put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door. Harry sat at his desk, which was piled with files for his cases, with his feet crossed on it.

"Hey little sister" he greeted when she came into the office.

"Hey big brother" she greeted back with a smile and she walked towards him, "Let me see your arm."

"Why? It's fine."

"Let me be the judge of that" she responded and held out her hand for him to put his arm in. With a deep dramatic sigh and a roll of his eyes, he got his feet off his desk and sat up straight as he placed his arm in her awaiting hand. With careful and Healer hands, she gently peeled off the bandage that she wrapped around his lower arm and revealed the still heeling scab of a spell he got hit with.

"It still looks a little infected" she announced to her brother as she still inspected the scab, "And you've been taking the pills?"

Harry didn't answer.

Magnolia looked away from the injury and to her brother's eyes, "Harry if you don't take them, I will force them down your throat. Or I'll have Ginny do it".

"I don't need the pills, Maggie".

"You do if you want to get better".

"I'm fine" he insisted but Maggie was having none of it.

"Harry, you seem to forget the position that I have over you. I am your nurse, I can take you off the Auror force and have you on bed rest for the rest of your life" she threatened him.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her, "You wouldn't."

Magnolia let his arm drop, "Try me big brother. Just try me."

Harry let out a huff of defeat as he sat back and crossed his arms against his chest, "Fine. I'll take the bloody pills. Are you happy now Maggie?"

Magnolia smiled a superior smile, "Ecstatic."

"Hey, Maggie" Harry piped up before she could make her way out of the office.

Magnolia turned back around to face him, "Yes".

"How did the proposal go?"

"You knew" she accused through slit eyes, like her brother had looked at her before.

"Of course I knew. He asked for my permission and for my blessing but I told him that I didn't care. It was your choice, not mine".

"But you could've sent me an owl, to warn me in advance".

"Now why would I want to do that?" he teased with a coy smile.

"To be a nice brother and by the way, I declined," she responded.

"You mean so you could come up with an excuse not to".

"I don't give excuses, just reasons. He made me take a deal. I have to come up with seven reasons for him not to marry me. If I can convince him not to marry me, then he won't ask me again".

"And if he can't be convinced?"

"You know the answer to that, I know you do".

Harry got off of his desk chair and came to stand by his little sister. Once he was within her reach, he raised his arms and let his hands gently rest on her upper arms.

"Maggie. I am your brother, your big brother. I just want you happy".

"I am".

"You will be happier when you are with Malfoy".

"I am with Draco; we've been dating since our sixth year".

"You know what I mean Maggie. Don't play stupid because you're not, you are a Ravenclaw for a reason".

Maggie heaved a deep sigh, "I can convince him, I know I can. I just have to-"

Harry laughed at his sister's stubbornness, "Maggie, just say yes. You're up against Malfoy, you won't win".

"Thanks for the confidence".

"You don't need confidence, you've already got that you just need it in yourself".

Maggie rolled her eyes and playfully pushed his hands off of her, "You've been friends with Draco for years since the War was finished. Why can't you say his name?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "It's just a habit, I guess. He still calls me Potter".

"Look Harry, I have to go. I'm meeting Draco for lunch and I have to give him my next reason".

"Alright, I'll see you later than".

"Bye Harry," she called to him before she left him alone in his office once more. She headed to Draco's office which wasn't far from her brother's.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

When she reached the closed door of her boyfriend's office door, she did the same as she did at Harry's door. She knocked and waited for an answer. A few minutes later, the office door was open and it revealed Draco and his shrivelled look. His usual styled and gelled back hair was left messy and it had no gel in it. His usual well-kept presses shirt was wrinkled with the first few buttons undone and his tie was loose around his neck. When her eyes focused on his face, found that he had dark circles and bags under his eyes and he seemed a little paler than he normally is. Once she took in his appearance, her Healer instincts took over.

"Draco, are you alright?" she asked him, her voice full of concern, as she followed him inside the office.

Draco nodded as he went to the front of his desk and leaned his butt against it. Without a word, she came to stand in front of him. She raised her arm for her wrist to touch his forehead. Before her wrist could touch his slightly pale forehead, he ducked to avoid her.

"I'm fine, Maggie. Really," Draco insisted.

Maggie's arm hesitated in the air, "Are you sure?"

"Yes" he answered as he straightened up again. With a gentle hand, he grabbed the wrist that was still in the arm and brought it down so it was level with his hip and then tugged it so she unexpectedly jerked toward him, which caused her to gasp in surprise. Once her body was against his, he used his other and wrapped it around her waist to keep her in place.

"If you're fine Draco, than what is your excuse for your appearance?"

"I stayed up all night, working on my case" he explained.

"You do look tired" she added as an afterthought. She raised her free hand and rested it on his tired-looking face, "Perhaps we should cancel today's lunch for you to get some rest?"

"No. There's no need. I just need to cast a refreshing spell on myself and get ready".

Draco bowed his head so his lips were close enough to the skin on her shoulder that it tickled and then pressed his lips to the skin. She pulled her wrist out of his now lax grasp and put in his messy locks and grabbed on to them in a loose grip that wouldn't harm him. He kept kissing her shoulder and up her neck until he heard her stomach growl and he pulled his head slightly way and chuckled.

"I guess you're hungry" he breathed and he raised his head.

"Yes, I haven't had anything since this morning, so hurry up and freshen yourself up".

"I won't take long" he told her and leaned down to kiss her on her lips. It was a quick French kiss, quick enough for her to take a deep breath in before Draco pulled away, "I promise".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Like Draco had stated back in the office, it didn't take long for him to get ready to go. But the walk to the restaurant was different than the walk she took to come to the Headquarters. As soon as they stepped outside of the front doors, both of them were blinded by the flashes of cameras owned by the paparazzi and newspaper reports that were waiting for her to come out.

When the first camera flash went off, Magnolia did her best to shield her eyes with her hands and turn away from the camera. Like he had done so many times before, Draco stepped in front of her to shield her from the cameras. Then, if the flashes of light weren't enough, the news reporters began to bomb both of them with questions, one right other the other.

"Hey, get out of here!" Draco yelled at them, like he was trying to shoo pigeons off of a park bench. Magnolia turned back around and placed a calming hand on his waving arm, which stilled at her touch.

"Come on, just ignore them" she told him and tugged him through the crowd. Draco trailed behind her, his arm still being tugged in front of him, and still gave the news reporters and paparazzi all murderous sneers as they walked past them. Some of the reports had the nerve to block their way and ask them question, which Magnolia responded with a simple phrase: "No comment", before she pushed by them. Once they through the crowd, Magnolia turned towards them and told them to take off or she'll make sure that when they are sick or injured, she won't allow any of the staff to cure them. It may have been an empty threat, by they all scattered.

"Wow, who knew an empty threat could make them move so fast?" Draco chuckled.

Magnolia laughed too, "Yeah, who knew. C'mon, I'm starving".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

The restaurant Draco had chosen for their lunch date was exquisite to say that least. The walls were painted with maroon red with gold designs and the floor was polished wood. Along three quarters of the perimeter, cushion couch-like chairs lined the walls with long rectangular shaped woodwork tables; some seating two, some seating more. In the area of the room, square shaped tables scatted around the large dining hall; some seating two and some seating more, and every table had two table clothes, each going a different way, which matched the walls. On top of the table clothes, the tables were set with plates, cutlery, cloth napkins and glasses. The last wall, which wasn't lined with tables, had both an etiquette bar and a cash counter.

Compared to the rich décor of the restaurant, Magnolia's wardrobe attire was not up to par and she felt that she clashed with the atmosphere since she still wore her lime green Healer's uniform and her lime green nurses cap sat beside her on the table to her right. Across from her sat her well appropriate dressed boyfriend.

"You were fierce out there" Draco commented after a moment of silence began between the two.

"Out where?"

"With the news reporters," Draco replied.

Magnolia heaved a stressful sigh and quietly began poking at her food with her fork.

"Maggie? What's wrong?" Draco asked her gently.

"You shouldn't have to deal with the paparazzi" she answered him after a while, "At least, not because I'm with you".

"What are you talking about?"

"You only get pounded by the press like that when I'm around you and you shouldn't. They shouldn't be bombing you with pictures and articles because we're dating but because of your own accomplishes. You should be getting it because of the hard work that you do, not because you're dating the twin sister of the Boy-Who-Lived".

"Maggie-" Draco began but Magnolia cut him off.

"That is my next argument. If you want a successful future and be as happy as a honey bee, with a wife who will always love you. Baby, don't marry me".

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter Three If You Want a Woman

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** posted in the second chapter.

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 3:

_If you want a woman you can depend on,  
I can absolutely guarantee  
I will never fail to disappoint you,  
Baby, Don't marry me._

Chapter Three

**~.~**

If You Want a Woman You can Depend On

"Cassi!" Magnolia yelled from the bottom of the stairs of their small two-bedroom town house, "Come on! Uncle Harry will be here with Teddy any minute!"

"I'm coming Momma!" Magnolia's six year old daughter, Cassiopeia (either Cass or Cassi for short), called back from her bedroom.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Packing!" Cassiopeia answered back.

"That was supposed to be done already" Magnolia called back.

"I know but I got distracted. Now Momma, let me finish please!"

And Magnolia did. With an amused shake of her head, she pushed herself away from the staircase banister that she was leaning on and left for her daughter to finish her packing.

"She left the packing for last minute, didn't she?" Draco asked from his spot just inside of the kitchen.

Magnolia nodded, "Like always".

"And like someone else I know" Draco teased with a smirk on his lips.

"That's not true".

Draco scoffed at her, "Really? How about when both Potter and I had to team up to get you to pack your trunk to go back to Hogwarts after the War?"

"That was different".

"Maggie, it took you three months for a task that should've taken not even three minutes".

"I had to find a boarding school for Cass-"

"But in the end, my parents tutored her".

Magnolia rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, "Yes, yes".

"Maggie, she got that from you" Draco chuckled.

Magnolia sighed. "I guess she did".

Suddenly, the sound of rushing air filled the small house and then shouts of "Auntie Maggie! Auntie Maggie!" soon followed.

"In the kitchen Teddy" Magnolia called back as she turned away from Draco. It wasn't long before the blurry image of Teddy rushed into the room. Maggie bent down and scooped up Teddy into her arms. Instinctively, Teddy wrapped his legs around her waist and his arms loosely around her neck.

"Hello Teddy" Maggie greeted her nephew.

"Auntie Maggie, is Cassi really staying for _three_ days?" Teddy asked with excitement.

Maggie nodded, "Yup and she's going to play with you the whole time".

"Hi Maggie" Harry greeted from the doorway Teddy ran into.

Upon hearing her name, Magnolia turned her attention to her brother, "Hi Harry".

"Hello Malfoy" Harry next greeted Draco with a friendly nod of the head, which Draco returned.

"Hi Uncle Draco" Teddy greeted the new found man, who has been standing next to Maggie the whole time, and held out his arms to be held by him.

"Hey Teddy" Draco responded to the little boy's excited greeting and took him into his arms to hold him like Maggie did.

"Uncle Harry said that Cassi's coming over so you and Auntie Maggie can love each other" Teddy blurted out, "Is that true?"

Both Harry and Maggie couldn't help but chuckle; if not at Teddy's bluntness, than at the unexpected look on Draco's face.

"Um…well" Draco stumbled over an answer appropriate for a boy Teddy's age to understand but he failed.

"It okay Uncle Draco, Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny does that too. Sometimes I can hear them late at night".

That comment from Teddy caused two reactions out of the two Potter twins. Harry stopped chuckling and turned red in embarrassment, while Maggie laughed harder.

"Teddy!" Harry scolded at the child in Draco's arms, which caused Teddy to look at him, "You shouldn't say things like that".

"Why?" Teddy wondered.

"Because it's rude and impolite" Harry answered.

"Oh" Teddy responded, "I'm sorry Uncle Harry".

"It's okay Teddy, you should just think before you speak".

And then from inside of the room; Harry, Maggie, Draco and Teddy heard the faint sound of a heavy trunk being dragged along the wooden floor.

"I'll help her bring her trunk down" Draco volunteered as he placed Teddy back onto his feet and then headed up the stairs.

Neither Harry nor Maggie spoke until Draco was out of the room and beginning to go up the stairs.

"Are you sure it's okay for Cassi to stay over for the weekend?" Maggie asked her twin.

"It's fine Maggie. Ginny and I haven't seen Cassi for months and Teddy loves it when she's over".

"And she's not intruding on any plans?"

"No. We've planned the whole weekend. We're going to the museum and then to the pool".

"Sounds very educational" she said with a nod, "Just try not to go into public too much. I really don't want Cassi exposed to the news reporters and paparazzi".

"That's understandable. You let me worry about those problems, you just stay nice and cozy with Malfoy".

"That is my plan Harry".

"Uncle Harry!" Cassiopeia exclaimed with excitement when she saw who stood in the room with her mother.

"Hey Cass, are you ready to go?" Harry responded with a smile.

Cassiopeia nodded her head, "Yeah. We're going to have so much fun".

"Cassi" Teddy exclaimed in the same manner Cassi had when she saw Harry, and he ran up to his older cousin (by a year).

"Hi Teddy" Cassi greeted back and the two cousins hugged as Draco came back into the room with Cassiopeia's trunk floating in the air by a levitating charm.

"Bye Momma" Cassi bade to her mother with a hug. Once they pulled away, Maggie when onto her knees so she was slightly taller than her daughter and placed a hand on each of Cassi's shoulders.

"You've packed all of the clothes that were on your bed?"

Cassi nodded.

"All of your underwear and undershirts?"

Cassi nodded.

"Your one-piece swimming suit?"

Cassi nodded.

"Your socks?"

Cassi nodded.

"The books you want to take?"

Cassi nodded.

"The stuffy for you to sleep with at night?"

"You mean Drake the Dragon? Yeah, I would never let him sleep alone".

"How about your PJ's?"

Cassi nodded.

"How about-"

"Maggie, she's spending the weekend, not the year" Draco interrupted his girlfriend.

"Yeah, it's not like she hasn't slept over before" Harry added.

"I'll send a letter when I get there" Cassi told her mother.

"Be good and listen to Aunt Ginny and your Uncle".

"I will Momma. I always do".

"Good girl. Come here Teddy," Maggie gestured for her nephew to come to her, which he did, and he bade him good bye and then pressed her lips on both of her daughter's and nephew's foreheads before she stood up.

"You have fun with Malfoy, don't worry about her Mag. I won't let anything or anyone harm her, you know that" Harry reasoned.

"I know" Maggie sighed, "But I'm a mother, it's my job to worry".

"Not this weekend, it's not," Harry shot back, "I'll bring her back on Sunday".

"See you than" she said as she gave her brother a hug and Harry returned it.

"C'mon Cassi, Teddy, into the fireplace" Harry directed, which the children followed.

"Bye Bye Auntie Maggie, Uncle Draco".

Both Maggie and Draco bade them goodbye. Than with a cry of the destination and a minor explosion of green flames, the three brief visitors and the trunk were swept away; leaving Draco and Maggie alone in the house.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Draco and Maggie stood still as the last of the green flames licked at the emptiness inside the fireplace and the silence soon enveloped throughout the small house. Draco stood to Maggie's right with that arm slung over her waist. Maggie stood to Draco's left and she had her arms wrapped around herself.

"She'll be fine, Maggie" Draco insisted, "Potter will be able to manage them. After all, he is the best Auror in the department" and Draco learned over to press a kiss on her temple.

"I guess you're right. I mean, he didn't become Head Auror for just allowing danger to happen. I'm being ridiculous".

"Yeah, you are" Draco agreed.

"You're not supposed to say that" she responded with a smile

"What am I supposed to say then?"

"'Oh, Maggie. You're not being ridiculous at all, just motherly' that's what you are supposed to say" she teased which caused him to chuckle.

"Oh, Maggie. You're not being ridiculous at all, just motherly" he repeated.

"Oh, you're mocking me now" she said with a fake pout.

"Don't pout" Draco chuckled again and he gave her another kiss on the temple, "That mouth of yours should never pout".

Draco smiled when her fake pout slowly turned upside down and into a smile.

"That's much better," Draco voiced before he pressed his lips to hers for a brief peck.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

A few hours have passed since Harry took Cassiopeia for the weekend so Magnolia and Draco could have a date night. The house was pretty quiet. The only sound came from the kitchen where both Maggie and Draco were. Draco stood in front of the stove, stirring a large pot of cooking spaghetti pasta with a wooden spoon. Across from him stood his girlfriend who was mincing fresh vegetables and herbs for the waiting pot of beef and tomato pasta sauce that was warming up next to the pasta pot by Draco. Besides the sound of water bubbling and the slicing of food, the soft sound of music accompanied the sounds of cooking.

Draco and Maggie didn't have many date nights in the past, with Cass and all, but when they did have one; Draco tried to make that night as romantic as possible. Tonight was no exception. After all, they did have the house to themselves, Harry and taken Cass out of the house, both he and Maggie had the night off from work…meaning that tonight was going to night full of romance.

While he stirred the pasta around in the metal pot, Draco turned his body a little so he could watch his girlfriend behind her back. She used her left hand to steady the three celery sticks still on the cutting board and used the sharp chief's knife, that she held in her right hand, to mince them. She cut with such precision and grace that if he didn't know her career, he would've thought that she was a Potions Mistress much like his Godfather was before he died. He bet that she would've made even Severus Snape jealous with her Potions talent, if he had been alive to see it.

Draco hadn't noticed that she had finished cutting was bringing it over to dump it all in the sauce until he heard the faint _flump_ as the vegetables and herbs collided with the bottom of the pan.

"Drake, are you alright?" Maggie asked when she saw him jump in surprise at the sound.

"I'm fine" he responded.

"Are you sure? You looked like you went someone where".

"Just thinking" Draco responded with a shrug of his shoulders, something he learned from her since his father never allowed him to respond with that kind of gesture.

"About what?"

"About how you should've become a Potions Mistress".

"A Potions Mistress?" she scoffed, "Draco, you must be confusing me for someone else. I was rotten at Potions. I was possibly even worse that Neville".

"Longbottom? No, he was okay after he got over his fear of Snape".

"I don't blame Neville for his fear of him, Snape could be scary when he wanted to".

"Not when you got to know him".

After that statement, the two of them stopped talking. The only sounds that filled the kitchen was the soft music and the sound of dinner cooking.

"I'm sorry Draco. It still must hurt to talk about him" she apologized gently as she stirred sauce.

"I-it does but it's getting better".

Quiet filled the kitchen once more for a while before Draco decided to lighten up the mood, "I know what would make it better…"

"How?"

With a smirk on his lips, which Maggie didn't see since she was still stirring the sauce, he turned the knob on the Muggle radio up so the sound of cooking was overpowered, "By dancing" he answered.

He surprised Maggie when he quickly but gently pulled her away from her pot and began waltzing around the kitchen.

At first, Maggie was surprised then Draco pulled her away from the pot to waltz but that surprise quickly turned into joy. Draco had his left hand gently resting on her hip as her right lend her right. Since her right was in Draco's, her left one was resting on his shoulder. They laughed and had fun as they danced. Draco spun her with a hand and dipped her close to the floor. They danced for a few songs, until the faint smell of something burning filled the air.

"What's that smell?" he asked with his nose crinkled as they stopped dancing. It took a minute before Maggie realized what it was.

"The noodles!" she exclaimed with a laugh as she hurried over. She switched off the burner and took the pot off the still hot burner. With the spoon that Draco was using to stir before, she turned the noodles around to see if any were burnt. Fortunately, no noodles were harmed in the making of their playful moment.

"It's okay, we caught them in time" she reassured before she turned her attention on the sauce and stirred that too.

Unfortunately, she didn't hear Draco walk up behind her so when she turned around after she was finished stirring, the spoon full of sauce collided with his nicely pressed dress shirt. When she pulled the spoon away, a small oval shaped sauce stain stayed in a spot just about his right upper chest.

"Oh God" Maggie said and she couldn't help but giggle, "I don't think that will come out, even with magic".

Maggie then turned around to put down the dirty spoon on the counter and to shut off the last burner.

"It doesn't matter" he said, "That just means that we get to skip a step".

When Maggie turned back around, she found that Draco was unbuttoning the shirt to take it off.

Like a little girl, Maggie giggled once again as she placed a hand on his chest to stop him, which it did.

"Drake, there'll be lots of time for _that_".

"I know" he responds as he pulls off the shirt and then drops hit behind him. Draco ignored her hand on his chest and learned forward so their lips collided in a kiss. With his arms free of the shirt, he wrapped them around her waist and then in one quick movement, he lifted her up and sat her on the counter. Draco's tongue slipped pasted her lips and began to dance with her own tongue. As much as she loved his kisses, she tried to pulled way to try to remind him that the spaghetti was going to get cold but every time she was able to pull her lips away, she was only able to say one word before his lips her on hers again.

"Draco" she tried to get his attention but her lips was pressed against his again. She gently pushed him away, "the spaghetti," lips pressed against each other again, "will get," again, his lips her on hers, "cold".

Draco pulled his lips away from her and leaned their foreheads together, "Let it get cold 'cause I'm getting hot".

Draco learned forward again to keep kissing her delicious lips but stopped when not only he, but Maggie as well, heard a fire call from the fireplace.

"Miss Potter" the stern but hurried voice from the fireplace.

Maggie held her two pointer fingers out in front of Draco's sight, "Hold that thought" she told him before she jumped off the counter and squeezed herself around Draco to get to her fireplace, than she went on her knees in front of it.

"Miss Potter, we are in dire need of your assistance" the nurse told her.

"But I'm not supposed to be in today, I have the day off" Maggie argued.

"I know that Miss Potter", the Healer snapped, "But we are understaff here and there has been an accident".

Magnolia went to open her mouth but Draco beat her to it.

"Accident?"

The Healer's eyes went to Draco and made a not approving face when she saw that he hadn't put his stained shirt back on and looked back at Magnolia, "I see that you have…company".

Both Maggie and Draco spoke at the same time.

"I do" Maggie told her as Draco said, "She does".

"As I have stated before, we need your assistance here. You can spend time with your…guest, at another time".

With a sigh, Magnolia nodded to the head in the flames, "I'll just go get changed".

"See that you do" she said with a nod than her head vanished from the flames.

"Maggie…" Draco began to say as Magnolia stood up from the crouch position she was in to speak to the Healer who fire called but she cut him off as she turned towards him.

"I'm sorry Drake but I have to take a rain check on the diner tonight".

"But we just finished making our dinner" Draco tried to argue.

"I know, I'll make it up to you. I promise" she swore before she pulled out her want and magically changed her clothes to the lime green uniform and hat and then put her wand away again. With her Healer uniform on, she turned to the disappointed looking man, "I'm sorry Draco. I love you but if you want a women you can depend on then I can absolutely guarantee, that I'll never fail to disappoint you" she raised her right hand cupped his left cheek, "Baby, don't marry me".

Once she told him that, she stepped into her fireplace, called out her destination and then left Draco alone in the house.

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Author's Note

Hello, everyone!

I know that I haven't been writing, or even finishing any stories for a _LONG_ time but I do have a reason. I was swamped with school work and this week (from December 11th-17th) I have exam so I have to study for those.

My plan for after my last exam, which is on December 17th, is to finish the stories that I have posted in the past and to start new ones that have been running through my mind since first semester (it started in September) began.

Over the past three months, I've had ideas for two stories in my Jacklynn Series from Eric Kripke's _Supernatural_. It mostly revolves around Jacklynn Johnson. The first one is called 'The Life and Times of Jacklynn Johnson'.

This one begins after the first instalment of the series left off (with her going to live with her mother and her new step family). It is about how Jacklynn learns to cope in her new environment [her new family, the beginning of romantic relationships with others around her age, the secret career that her family is a part of—Hunting like Sam and Dean—,the training to become a hunter like her family and her recently appeared abilities].

The one that comes after 'The Life and Times of Jacklynn Johnson' is called 'Rehab' and this one is mainly focused on Jacklynn as well. In this one, Jacklynn is sent to a rehabilitation centre to help her overcome the abuse and neglect that she couldn't overcome when she lived with the Johnson's, as well as her anorexic eating disorder.

Each of the above instalments are more appealing than how I have them (I'm just not good at giving brief summaries _without_ giving away any good details). I promise they are better than they sound!

I wanted to know if I should work on them or completely trash them (and maybe even the rest of the series). You have three choices, and I want you to be honest:

Yes, definitely keep working on them and post them up on the site.

Nah, I'm not a fan of the Jacklynn series. Never was and never will be.

I don't care. Do what you want but don't expect me to read it.

I really hope you do like the series because I have a huge secret with this character that I've planned since I began writing the first instalment 'Broken', years ago. So _please_ give me your response to let me know if I'm just wasting my time with this series. All feedback is welcomed, both negative and positive, because it won't hurt my feelings but it will make my writing stronger.

Thank you and I love you guys,

xxPyRaxx


	5. Chapter Four I Have Irritating Habits

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** claimed in the second chapter.

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 4:

I hum a silly tune to pass the time  
And when I sing, my voice should be crime.  
I have irritating habits you'll dread,  
Like the way I never show up on time .

Chapter Four

**~.~**

I Have Irritating Habits You'll Dread

September, October and November had quickly come and left, leaving December in their wake. The ground was frozen and large piles of the fluffiest and whitest snow laid on the ground. The sharp cold winter wind blew through the naked tree branches and nipped at any visible bare flesh. Outside in that weather Cassiopeia and Draco played. With the freshly fallen snow that fell the previous night, they built a snow man and his family in the Muggle fashion that Cass had insisted upon. Cass had also insisted they build a winter fort the Muggle way, which Draco had agreed since he had never built either the Muggle way. Being the kind child that she was, taught him how to roll the small hand-made ball around in the snow to make the different sizes of the body of the snow-wizards and how to dig through the piles of snow to make tunnels to travel through in the fort, like her mother had taught her. Together, like a father and daughter, they laughed and enjoyed each others' company. They played in the snow until Cass complained that she was getting cold.

In a fatherly manner, Draco assisted Cass back inside the house. With the door shut behind them to prevent the cold from coming inside the small house, he took off his winter gear and hung them in the closet by the front door and then helped Cassi take off her winter gear. First he took off the scarf that he wrapped around her neck to keep her little face warm, and then he slipped off the hood of her coat and pulled off her warm hat. He grabbed both her hat and her scarf and discarded them into the bin of winter garments. He knelt down to her level and began to unzip her winter coat and pulled her arms out of the sleeves, while Cassiopeia chatted about the life that their snow-wizard family were going to live out in their winter wonderland outside of the house. After her coat was off, he pulled her mittens off. He allowed Cass to take off her own boots while he hanged her coat next to his and put her mittens in the bin with the rest of their stuff. Once she tugged her boots off, he put them next to his on the boot mat by the door.

As Draco and Cassiopeia walked in throughout the house, they could hear the familiar off-tone singing coming from the kitchen. Cassi reached up and tugged on Draco's shirt tail to gain his attention. When Draco looked down at her, she pressed a finger to her lips and they crept to the entrance of the kitchen where they hid on the other side of the wall. Together, the two of them leaned forward so their eyes peeked over the edge and they watched Magnolia work from behind her back. Maggie cradled a large metal backing mixing bowl in her left arm and held a wooden spoon in her right hand and stirred the contents inside. As she mixed, she half hummed and half sung to 'Jingle Bell Rock' in her awful multiple toned vocal range. As she bounced on the balls of her feet and danced a little bit around the kitchen, there was no doubt that Maggie was having fun. Draco was happy that Maggie was enjoying herself but when he looked down at her daughter, he couldn't help but have a frown replace the smile that slipped on his lips when he was watching Maggie when he saw Cassi's sad looking face.

Draco placed a hand on her head and Cassi looked up at him. With his other hand, he beckoned her to walk away from the entrance and she followed. Once the two of them were well out of Maggie's ear-shot, Draco knelt down to Cassi's level and asked her what was wrong.

Cassi didn't answer at first but let her head bow slightly.

"Cass, tell me what's wrong" Draco prompted her gently, "I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong".

"At school, everyone's Mommy's sings to them but Momma never sang" Cass responded in a tone that sounded like a child had realized that a friend had betrayed them, "Not once".

"I'm sure she sang to you when you were a baby" he tried to reassure her.

Cassi shook her head, "No. Uncle Harry said she never sings, not even when she was a little girl like me".

"Are you sure you want her to sing to you? I mean, you heard her voice" Draco tried to tease but Cassi didn't appreciate that.

"Sure, Momma's voice is a little..._rough around the edges_, but I still wish she'd sing to me".

"Cassi, have you ever asked her why she doesn't?"

The six year old shook her head in a negative response, "No, thought that it would be rude to ask".

"Oh, Cassi. You are much too old and considerate for your age. Do you ever encourage her to sing, with you or with any of the other childrens Mommy's?"

Cassi nodded this time, "Uh huh. I even tried singing little songs around her but she told me stop, and she had a really scary look on her face".

"Scary look? What do you mean?"

"Like she was was scared that someone was gonna here me sing. Is Momma sick Draco?"

"Um...no Cassi. She's not sick. Would you like me to talk to her?"

Cassi nodded again, "Thank you Draco" and than she wrapped her small arms around his neck to hug him. Draco wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her back.

"You're welcome. Now, c'mon. Let's let your Mommy know that we're done playing outside".

"Okay" Cassi agreed.

"Why don't you go upstairs and play in your room for a little while and I'll talk to your Mommy" Draco suggested to the little girl.

"Okay" Cass replied with a nod of her head and than headed up the stairs to her room.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

With the faint sounds of Cassi's footsteps disappearing as she went up the stairs, Draco made his way back towards the kitchen where Maggie was still singing to herself and occupying herself with Christmas baking. Draco stood in the doorway of the kitchen, with his right side leaning against the frame and his arms crossed against his chest, and watched silently as Maggie finished putting the small piles of dough onto the cookie sheet. With one hand holding the cookie sheet, like a waitress would hold a tray in a restaurant, she opened the hot oven with the other before she bent her figure down to deposit the baking sheet into the oven. Unfortunately, her attention was not on what she was doing and she accidentally touched her fingers of her right hand onto the red hot element. With a soft but surprise sound that was a cross between a gasp and a cry of pain, she snapped her hand away from the element and she backed away from the oven. Draco had an urge to chuckle at the disapproving look she gave the muggle contraption before she closed the oven door with a foot. At the sound of Draco's amused chuckle, Maggie stopped singing and whipped around in the direction of where Draco stood. At the sight of seeing him there, her eyes widened in surprise.

"D-Draco! How-how long have you been there?"

"Not long" Draco answered as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off the frame.

As Draco made his way toward her, Maggie couldn't help but take steps back and try to keep a distance between the two of them. It was an unconscious habit for her but it was one she always did when she was surprised or guilty of an act. She kept going backwards until she hit the counter and she stopped with her hands resting on top behind her. When Draco noticed the action, he stopped in his place.

"Mag, I'm not going to hurt you" he told her in a calm voice but there was a slight hit of wonder in his tone.

A sight escaped from her lips as Magnolia's head bowed forwards and the grip she had on the edge of the counter loosened slightly.

Draco began to walk towards her once again and stopped in front of her. Draco reached forward and gently took the injured hand in his owns to examine them and that arm flinched, for two different reasons. To Magnolia, it was because he touched her. To Draco, it was because he thought he had accidentally was too rough with the hand when he took it in his own.

Draco held her injured hand in his with the back of her hand on his palm. The pointer, middle and ring finger were turning red due to the element burning the fragile flesh. At the touch of one of his own fingers on one of her injured ones, she jerked her hand out of his grip out of reflex with a painful gasp and cradled it to her chest to protect it from further harm.

"I'm sorry Maggie, I didn't mean to touch it" Draco reassured her and he held out his hand for her injured one again, "I promise I won't touch it again".

Maggie didn't move from her position for about a minute or two as she thought about it. With a "I'm fine", she turned towards the sink and turned on the water to run the water over her burn.

As she soaked the burn she made a quiet request for the first-ad kit and Tylenol that was stored in the medicine cabinet in her en-suite bedroom bathroom. Draco vocally agreed and went to do the task.

As Draco went to do the task that she requested, Maggie stayed in her current position. She leaned against the edge of the kitchen counter and stayed still as the cool water soothed the swelling of her red skin. She tried to curl her fingers but stopped when she felt the familiar pull of tight skin. Being burnt was nothing new for her, since it happened quite frequently at the Dursley household. The burn was nothing compared to all the previous burns she received since neither of the burns touched the broken line of the beginning of the palm. Since she's been burned more times that she could actually count, it became almost second nature to know that the burn had to soak in cool water for about five minutes, Aloe Vera should be placed on it once the burn was dry of water and Tylenol would help tone down the swelling.

When Draco came back into the kitchen with the first-ad kit and bottle of Aloe Vera in hand, Maggie was patting dry the water from the burn with a kitchen tea towel. As Draco laid the kit on the counter beside her, she thanked him in a soft tone. With a practised skill that she learned from her past, she used her uninjured hand and twisted off the cap of the Tylenol. Still with her uninjured hand, she held the bottom of the bottle in her fingers and dumped two pills into the palm before the popped the two pills in her mouth and swallowed both pills in one shot. Magnolia than twisted the cap back on the bottle and placed it on the counter. With the look that she saw on Draco's face she explained that the Tylenol would help stop the swelling of the burn. She than asked in a quiet and polite tone for help. Draco nodded as he grabbed the kit and than told her to sit down in the living room.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Draco sat across from Magnolia in the living room. Draco sat on the coffee table, much to her dislike, and she sat on the couch in front of him. The first-aid kit was left open on the table beside Draco's right thigh. With gentle fingers, Draco held the gauze in place with a thumb and he used the other hand to wrap the gauze around the three burnt fingers. At first, he wrapped the gauze to tight, causing her to wince and hiss in pain. He apologized and re-wrapped it looser than he had it before. Also at first, he had trouble with wrapping it due to the Aloe Vera on the burns kept making the gauze slide out of place. A smile curled on her lips as she watched Draco became frustrated every time the gauze slid. With her unharmed hand, she showed and explained that the thumb thumb helps keep it in place. As Draco attended to her, they talked small talk like what he and Cassi did outside, which caused a relaxed smile to curl on her lips but it vanished when Draco started asking questions that were tough to answer.

"Why did you react the way you did when you noticed that I was watching you?"

His tone was smooth, relaxed and non-threatening but it caused a rush of panic to shoot through her body.

"What are you talking about?" she responded, trying to keep her face neutral from showing the emotions she was feeling but Draco saw passed her mask due to the emotions rushing to her eyes.

"You looked scared after you turned around and than when you backed away from me".

Maggie was speechless, he did notice her action. She bowed her head in shame, she was hoping that he wouldn't catch on. She should've known, he was smarter than she gave him credit for. Quiet filled the room, the only sound came from the sound of the scissors cutting the gauze and than the tape before he pressed the tape to the end of the material.

"What happened?" he asked, his tone still calm and soft; as if he was speaking to a frightened child and in a way, she was.

"I-I got scared, I guess" she answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Of what or who? Of me?"

"No. Not of you Drake, never of you".

"Than why were you scared?"

"I-I can't say. I pr-promised that I wouldn't" Maggie answered as she used her free hand to pull and strand of hair behind her ear and looked away from him.

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm the frustration he felt building inside him before he opened his eyes and again and raised her chin with a finger up so emerald eyes met his stormy ones, "Mag, I just want to help and how can I do that if you don't tell me?"

Mag smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes due to the sadness that were held there.

"I can't tell you-" Maggie was cut off by the oven timer which she hurried over to take the cookies out of the oven.

She rushed to the kitchen and put on the oven mitts that laid to the right of the stove before she pulled open the oven door and pulled out the cookie sheet. With her foot, she pushed the oven door shut once again just before she put the hot metal cookie sheet on top of the stove. Magnolia took off one of the gloves to use to wave the heat away from the now cooling tray of cookies.

"Tell me Mag. Please?" Draco tried to get her to squeal her secret.

Mag stopped fanning the cookies to look at Draco for a moment before she continued the fanning action as she responded, "I can't Draco. I told you that I promised not to tell and that's what I'm going to do".

Draco sighed. He tried the easy way, by asking her politely but that didn't work. It looked like he would have to do it the hard way, by the form of blackmail.

"I guess I'll ask Harry. I'm sure he'll tell me, why you acted the way you did".

That statement caused her to freeze and stop her fanning motion. She than slowly turned her head towards her boyfriend and tried to call his bluff in the strongest voice she could muster, "Y-you wouldn't".

Draco crossed his arms against his chest and smirked his superior smirk, "Try me", he challenged.

Time stood still. Perhaps not _time_, but actions as Magnolia considered the actions of breaking the promise she made all those years ago and the pain that she knew would come after, right? No. Harry told her that the Dursely's wouldn't come back because they abandoned them years ago and they would never return. She knew without any doubt that her brother wouldn't lie about something like that. So she could break the promise, couldn't she? Magnolia closed her eyes as she took in a deep calming breath before she released it. She gently laid the oven mitt on the counter to the left of the cookie sheet before she turned her full attention on Draco.

"Alright. Alright, I'll-I'll tell you. But I will in my own way and on my own time".

Draco didn't seem to mind those conditions, "Okay. You can tell me when you're ready and in your own way".

"Okay. Good. Um...where's Cassi?" Magnolia wondered, and to change the subject.

"I'm afraid you scared her off with your singing" Draco teased his girlfriend with a smile.

"My singing isn't that bad" she tried to reassure, more herself than Draco.

"I mustn't tell lies" Draco joked as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "you have a very obnoxious singing voice".

"Another reason you shouldn't marry me. I hum a little tune to pass the time and when I sing, my voice should be a crime. I have irritating habits, that you'll dread for the rest of the marriage. Like the way I never show up on time".

"Maggie-" Draco tried to counter her argument since he believed that it didn't count.

"No Draco" Maggie cut him off as if she knew that he was going to argue about it, "That is my fourth reason. I'm not changing it. Now, if you excuse me. I'm going to get my Christmas cookie tester from upstairs".

Maggie went up on her toes and pressed her lips against his cheek before she headed upstairs.

Leaving, Draco alone in the unresisting aroma of baked goods. When Maggie and Cassi returned to the kitchen, Draco was gone and two cookies were missing from the semi-warm cookie sheet.

**To Be Continued…**


	6. Chapter Five If You Want Attractive

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** posted in the second chapter.

**Warning:** I changed the overall rating of the story to T+ because of the mentioned child abuse and rape in this chapter. If those subjects offend you in _ANY_ way than don't read, but it does hold key information for the way Magnolia acts and responds to others.

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 5:

My Uncle is a big whale,  
And my Aunt is skinny as a tree.  
If you want to have attractive children,  
Baby, Don't marry me.

Chapter Five

**~.~**

If You Want Attractive Children

Christmas day was drawing nearer and nearer. Snow had dominated every inch of the ground, the cold air nipped at bare flesh and ice laid hidden underneath the blankets of snow; waiting for wizards and witches alike to mistake it for snow and slip on them. At the small Potter household (occupied by Magnolia and Cass, not Harry and his family), the large fresh green pine tree has been decorated since the beginning of December with beautiful decorations; bright netted Christmas tree lights, shinny solid red Christmas balls, frosted looking white Christmas ornaments of both ball shaped and tear-drop shaped, real red and white stripped candy canes and on top stood a realistic looking Santa Clause tree topper that Cassiopeia had picked out years before. On top of the mantel of the fireplace, hung a realistic fake pine garland that had the same lights through it as the Christmas tree and small bows and three Christmas stockings with a name written on each one; Magnolia, Cassiopeia, and the recently added one: Draco. Twisting around the stair banisters were the same garland as the fireplace. Throughout the whole house, the smell of fresh pine and the aroma of Christmas cookies filled the air. Outside of the front door hung a fresh green pine Christmas wreath that was decorated the same as the tree inside. Accompanying the wreath outside, was the three snow-wizards that Cass and Draco had built a few weeks before.

As agreed weeks before, Magnolia would explain why she acted the way she did when he caught her singing to Draco. To do that, she gathered up the courage to go back to the house where she was raised. Maggie didn't want to send Cassiopeia to Harry's, since she knew that he had a life of his own and his job wasn't too look after her daughter (even though he kept insisting that he didn't mind). Instead, Cassi would be staying with a babysitter for a few hours. Her first time with a babysitter who _wasn't_ a relative.

Inside the small house, it was a quiet evening. Dinner has been served hours before: roasted turkey with garlic and herb mashed potatoes, lemon seasoned green beans, a sliced onion and carrots dish, warmed buns and either milk or water to drink. Draco had stayed for dinner, like he frequently has in the past, and helped prepare the marvellous meal. It was also a quiet affair, conversation did not fill the table even though Cassiopeia tried to make them interested in what she had planned to do with the babysitter. As hard as she tried, Magnolia's attention was not on her daughter nor the activities she planned, instead her thoughts were on what was going on while the babysitter was looking after Cassi.

"-Momma?"

The sound of her daughter's soft voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes left the spot on the plate where she was starring as her thoughts took her away from the present.

"I'm sorry Cassi, what were you saying?" Maggie asked her as she looked at her daughter who sat across from her at the table.

"I asked if you thought my babysitter —even thought I'm not a baby- would like me to draw pictures, like I draw for you".

"I love the pictures that you draw me and I think your babysitter would like your pictures too."

"Are you okay Momma?" Cassi asked her mother with concern clearly written upon her young childish face.

Maggie gave Cassi a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I'm fine Cassi. Finish your beans".

"But I don't like beans" the girl whined as she used her fork to stab at the beans still left on her plate.

"I know you like green beans, so nice try".

"Not these ones", Cassi responded as she kept stabbing the beans even though the prongs on the fork were full of beans, "These ones taste funny".

"It's lemon" Draco injected into the conversation.

"Lemon? Like lemon-aid? Yuck! I hate lemon-aid. Momma, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Cassi, really".

"Okay Momma, if you say so. When will the babysitter get here? Do I have time to draw her a picture?"

"Yes, she'll be here an hour after dinner. That should give you plenty of time to draw" Draco answered.

"Okay" Cassi beamed at the answer and went back to the food on the plate, but did her best to avoid the green beans.

The babysitter seemed kind and gentle. The minute Magnolia opened the front door, she was greeted by a smile and an enthusiastic greeting. Since Draco accompanied Maggie to the front door and stood slightly behind her, he opened the door wider to allow the temporary babysitter to step inside. Once she was inside, Draco closed the door behind the babysitter.

"Hi, I'm Kitty" the babysitter introduced herself with her hand held out for them to shake it.

"Hi" Draco greeted back since all Maggie did was giving her a small smile that looked like a wince, "I'm Draco and this is Magnolia, Cassiopeia's mother".

"What beautiful names" Kitty complimented, "I would love to name my children those names. They are so unique".

"Um...thank you" Maggie responded after a second.

"Cassi is in the living room" Draco spoke up, "She's been excited about playing with you".

"Oh, thank you Mr. Potter" Kitty thanked.

"It's Malfoy" he corrected before Maggie could.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed you and Miss Potter were married".

"Not yet" Draco answered with a smile and slung an arm around the back of Maggie's waist, "But I'm working on it".

Without thinking, Maggie lowered her right hand so it rested upon his which was on her waist and looked behind her, into his eyes, to reply, "We'll see".

"Where is the living room?" Kitty asked as she smiled at the loving interaction between the two people in front of her.

"Down the hall and to your right" Maggie informed after she looked away from Draco.

With a nod in thanks, Kitty made her way towards the child she would be looking after for the next hours.

Once Kitty was out of ear shot, Maggie turned towards her boyfriend.

"Are you sure we should leave Cassi with her. I mean, we could wait until Harry is free again".

"Mag, she'll be fine" Draco tried to reassure the young mother.

"What if something happens?"

"What could happen in a few hours?"

"A bugler could break in. A fire could start. Cassi could chock on something-" Maggie listed as she counted each situation fingers of a hand.

Draco chuckled, "Mag, you need to relax. None of that is going to happen".

"How do you know?" she accused.

"I don't but if it would make you feel better than I can place protection spells and charms on the house".

"It would. But are you sure that this Kitty, is good enough to look after my Cassi? I mean, she could be a psychotic killer for all we know".

"Mag, she's just a teenager. Besides, I did a little background check on her at the Ministry and she's just a Muggle. A Muggle teenager. Not a killer or anything else you can come out with. Trust me".

"But-" Maggie began again but stopped when Draco covered her mouth with a hand.

"Kitty will look after Cassi. We are going out so let's go get out coat and stuff on".

Draco than slid his hand away from her mouth but his lips quickly replaced it for a kiss that Maggie couldn't help but melt into. Just as quickly as the kiss began, it ended but leaving heavy breathing in its' wake.

Once their winter stuff were on, they went into the living room to say goodnight to Cassi; who gave them both a kiss goodnight, and than Maggie and Draco were out the door.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Together, Magnolia and Draco walked along the snow covered paved streets in Surrey. Night had fallen hours ago, casting a black curtain through out the only source of light coming from the overhead streetlamps. From the clouds above in the sky, large but soft snowflakes fell and danced their way to the pavement.

Magnolia wore a pair of dark blue denim jeans with the bottoms tucked into her tall lace-up winter boots that reached just to her calves. Along the top of the boots and down the middle of the laces were faux fur. The heels of her boots were flat but contained small suction cups to prevent slips on the ice. She wore a turtleneck sweater underneath her wool woven double breasted pea coat with a double buttoned front, open hand pockets and a princess seam down the front. Looped once around her neck sat a warm hand-knit wool scarf and matching mittens on her hands and a slouchy hat on her head.

Beside her, walked her boyfriend. Draco was dressed like Magnolia but due to her insistence he wore Muggle clothes in a Muggle town. He wore a pair of short men winter boots that were tied tightly to his feet, a pair of slightly baggy denim jeans, a turtleneck sweater his wool which was under his wool double buttoned and breasted pea coat with large side pockets and on his hands he wore a pair of black leather gloves.

The street was dead, no night wanders were about and no dogs barked at the midnight moon. As they both walked down the street, they clasped each others gloved hand and fallen snowflakes clung to their winter outerwear and hair. The two of them came up to a tree that anybody would've identified as a normal tree but to Magnolia and Harry it was a sanctuary.

"You see that tree right there?" Maggie asked as she pointed to the tree she was referring to.

"Yeah. What about it?"

Magnolia unclasped her hand from Draco's and walked towards the tree, with Draco following her. When she reached it she raised a gloved hand to the trunk and looked up through the naked branches.

"Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister, had this bull dog. It was an ugly bag of wrinkles and drool but she treated it like it was the most precious thing in the universe. Fed it leftovers and brandy. She also let the dog do anything it wanted, especially if it wanted to bite us or chase us. Ripper loved to chase us."

"Maggie-" Draco began but stopped when she turned towards him.

"Harry and I, we used to always climb this tree whenever Aunt Marge ordered Ripper to chase us. We were good at climbing, we always climbed to the first few branches so were were just out of reach on Ripper's teeth whenever he tried to jump up the tree to bite us".

"How often did this happen Maggie?"

Magnolia looked down at the soiled floor, her hand still on the tree, before she replied, "Whenever Aunt Marge was over, it wasn't really a lot though. She didn't like us very much", Magnolia than smiled at him and moved towards him.

"Were you ever bitten?"

Magnolia nodded, "Yeah. Loads of times but it was mostly on my arms or hands".

"What did your relatives do when they saw the bites?"

Magnolia shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing. They either didn't notice or didn't care", she than grabbed his hand and led him away from the tree.

"Now where are we going?" Draco asked as he let his beloved guide him down the empty streets and snowflakes almost covered all of her exposed hair.

"The playground. Harry and I always used to go there whenever we wanted to get away from our relatives".

"Was that often?"

Maggie nodded her head, "Often enough" she answered as the came to said playground.

The playground was covered in snow, just like the ground surrounding it, with the metal from the equipment rusted due to both overuse and moisture exposure. It didn't look like much, just an old salvage yard.

"This is where you played?" he asked with his nose wrinkling in disgust.

Magnolia looked toward the deserted playground and looked at it with Draco's perception. The place did look abandoned and junky but it has always looked that way since no one wanted to contribute money for the playground to be updated and better taken care of since the only children in the area are now all grown up.

Magnolia shrugged her shoulders in answer again, "It isn't much, it actually wasn't much back than, but it was probably the safest place for us".

_Safest?_ Draco repeated in his thoughts. Maggie tightened her hold on his hand again and let him about a yard over to the right of where they once where.

"This is where the Knight Bus came to pick us up in Third Year, after Harry signalled it by accident of course".

"What do you mean by accident?"

The smile on her face disappeared as she answered, "Aunt Marge wasn't very nice the night we took off. She-she kept spewing off insults about Mum and Dad. Harry lost his temper after an awful comment about our Mum".

"What did he do?"

The smile returned as she answered with a giggle, "He blew her up".

"Blew her up?"

Maggie nodded, "Just like a balloon that she resembled. She even floated up into the air".

Draco's own lips curved in a smile at the thought.

Maggie raised the hand that wasn't holding his to point across the yard, "And right over there, that's where Harry first saw Sirius. Of course we didn't know it was Sirius, since he was in his animangus form and we've never heard of Sirius before".

Magnolia gently tugged Draco away from the dirty and junky childrens playground and towards Privet Drive. It was still quiet on the streets and the snow continued to fall as before but that didn't stop the two young wizards from continuing towards their destination but Maggie made the two of them stop when she recognized a very familiar ally.

"What's wrong Mag?" Draco asked concern when they stopped walking.

Maggie tilted her head to the side like a curious puppy and pointed towards the ally, "There. That's the place how I got Cassi".

"What do you mean?" he asked as he looked to where she was pointing.

"Piers Polkiss, Dudley's best friend, raped me".

"He raped you?"

Maggie nodded, her eyes never leaving the dark empty ally, "They all thought it was great fun, especially Dudley. He thought that it would be funny to listen to me beg and cry for them to stop".

"Didn't anyone try to help?"

"Harry did but Dudley told his friends to hold him back. Harry did fight awfully hard to help me, but only got punched in the stomach for his efforts".

"Maggie, I-" Draco began to apologize but he shut his mouth when he saw the sad look on her face.

"You wanted to know all this, Draco. C'mon, the house is just up the street here. Not far".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Both Magnolia and Draco stood still on the edge of the driveway. In front of them stood the darkened and abandoned house of Number 4 Privet Drive. No lights shone from the inside, only bars caged the windows of the house. Just seeing the outside of the house caused Maggie to tighten her grasp on his hand and her muscles to tense.

"What were the bars for?"

"To keep me and Harry inside. C'mon, there's more to see".

Draco silently followed Maggie as she walked up the driveway and up onto the front stairs. Without a word, Draco slid out his wand to cast the unlocking charm.

"Aloho-" began to recite but stopped when Maggie placed a hand on his wrist and looked at him.

"No need Draco. It's unlocked".

"How do you know?" he tested.

With a superior look on her face, she grabbed the door knob and twisted it before she pushed it open.

"I know because I was the last one out of the house when Harry and I were escorted out of Surrey on our 17th birthday".

Inside, the house was so dark that it was hard to see what lied in front of them.

"Lumos" Draco recited and the tip of his wand light up.

"The lights should be working" Maggie told him as she tried the nearest light switch near by. As predicted, the lights of the empty living room went on and cast a small amount of light in the hallway.

"Why is it so empty?" he asked when he saw the living room.

"The Dursley's packed up everything they could and just left. The Blood Wards that Dumbledore set were gone so they were left oven for Voldemort".

Draco flinched at the name of the Dark Lord, "Please, don't say his name".

Magnolia sighed, "I'm sorry".

When her eye caught sight of the fireplace, a small smile curved on her lips.

"What?"

"The fireplace. When Harry and I first got our Hogwarts letters, we weren't allowed to have them. Uncle Vernon burned all of them. But when he ignored them, the owls dropped all the ignored letters down the chimney and they all came flying out. It scared the Dursley's something fierce. Uncle Vernon made all of us move to an old house on an rocky island".

"Why weren't you allowed your letters?"

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hated magic. Our Aunt Petunia hated our Mum because she got her letter and Petunia didn't. Harry thinks it's because she was jealous that Mum was a witch she she wasn't. I don't think so though, Aunt Petunia hates magic too much to be jealous over it," Maggie turned her attention back to Draco, "The backyard is next".

Without a word of complaint, Draco followed Maggie through the back of the living room and to the back French Pavilion doors.

"Right out there, is where Harry and I were forced to do the gardening and weeding. We were forced to do it in whatever weather. In the rain or in the blazing hot sun".

"How long ago did this start?"

"Since we could remember," Maggie turned them both around and gestured to the large space in front of them, "This is where Harry blew up Aunt Marge. Come on, the kitchen is this way".

Once inside the small kitchen, memories came speeding into Maggie's mind. Draco could tell by the look on his girlfriends beautiful young face.

"Maggie?"

"I was always forced to cook for them. Especially for Dudley, our over weight and spoiled cousin".

"Is that why you reacted how you did when I caught you singing?" he asked, very confused.

Maggie shook her head, "No. Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon caught me singing while I was cooking. Aunt Petunia hit me over the head with a frying pan and Uncle Vernon smack me so hard that I fell to the floor unconscious. After that, I never tempted to sing again".

"You wouldn't even do it for Cassi?"

"No. I learned my lesson. I never should've sang when I was baking for the Christmas cookies".

"You know Cassi told me that everyone else's mother at her school, and her's doesn't. She told me that she really doesn't care that you have a horrible voice, just that you sing to her".

"I can't Draco. I ju-just can't. I-I know that it sounds stupid but what if the Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hear me".

Draco stepped closer to her, close enough for his arm to brush against hers, and responded, "Maggie, they are long gone and they aren't coming back. You told me before that they left you and Harry all alone because they didn't care, why would they track you down just to hurt you? Why would they go through all of that trouble if they don't even like you?"

Draco felt his heart beat faster and faster when he saw his beloved's eyes begin to tear. He hadn't meant to make her cry, he just wanted her to see sense. When he saw the tears build up in her beautiful green jewelled eyes, he enveloped her in a hug. He gently wrapped his slip pale arms around her waist and pressed her body against his. Unconsciously, Maggie raised her arms to wrap them loosely around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck. It wasn't long before he felt her tears beginning to soak the material of the Muggle turtleneck sweater. Draco hugged her tighter as the sounds of her sobs filled the quiet house. Draco did his best to give her nonverbal support by kissing her on her head and rubbing softly on her sides with his hands.

Maggie cried long and hard. She cried for the fact that she lost both of her parents at such a young age. She cried for the fact that she and Harry had to live with such awful guardians who were supposed to be called their relatives. She cried for the fact that she had neither a mother or father figure all of her life, to teach her how to behave in the world. She cried for the fact that she had to live in terror, in fear for any type of punishment for the consequence of actions the Dursely's didn't approve of in their household. She cried for the fact that her first impression of what should be two romantic gesture was rough and barbaric. She cried for the fact that the first reaction of finding out that she had powerful magic within her blood was abusive, shameful and freakish. She also cried for the fact that she'd _never_ have to come back here and she'd _never_ have to see the Dursley's for the rest of her life. The Dursley's were long gone, they have been for six years, and nothing was going to make them come back. Why would they? The Dursley's hated her and Harry. Draco was right, why would they go through all that trouble and money to track them done if they hated her.

Maggie's sobs and tears slowly died. Eventually, her sobs stopped and her tears dried on her cheeks. Maggie raised her head from the crook of Draco's neck to look up into those liquid silver eyes of his. Her fingers unhooked themselves from behind his neck and she slid her hands down past the front of his shoulders and left them on his chest.

"Are you okay Maggie?" Draco asked with full concern in his voice.

"Uh, yeah. I-I'm okay" she answered.

Without a word, Draco brought his hands away from her waist and up to her face to wipe the tear marks off of her cheeks, "Are you sure you're okay?"

With his hands still on the side of her face, she nodded and took a deep breath through her nose.

"I-I'm okay, really" she insisted and than raised her hands to his wrists to lower his hands, "I'm okay."

Draco allowed her to lower his hands by his wrists as she reassured him that she was fine.

"Come on, that's more to show you", she continued and she grabbed his hand to lead him out of the kitchen.

"How much more do you have left to show me?"

"Not much, just the bedrooms" she answered, "We'll start upstairs".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Draco followed Maggie up the stairs, their hands still clasped together. The floorboards underneath their feet creaked under their weight as they made their way down the hall of bedrooms. Even with the lights on in the hallway, they still needed their wands to light the rest of the way. The three doors that they passed were all kept closed, but Draco didn't pay attention to them since Maggie wasn't. It wasn't until they reached the last door, that he noticed that her attention was fully on that door. By the small lights, he could see that the door had three sets of locks upon the door, all which required a key to remove the locks. Draco looked further down when she squatted, and spotted a small opening.

"What is that?" he questioned.

"A cat flap" she answered, "Aunt Petunia would slide our food through it so she didn't have to unlock all the locks".

Maggie than stood back up and cast the simple unlocking charm on the locks. Magically, the three padlocks slid open one after the other. She reached up and slid them off the flap and than threw them onto the floor beside the door frame before she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

The room was small, with one single unmade bed sitting on the right hand side of the wall and desk in front of the window right across from the door. Vertically across from the bed was a very small closet that it looked like it would fit only a couple of clothes. Above the bed, was a bulletin board were very old drawings. A few of an owl- Hedwig, the Gryffindor house crest and a sketched drawing of Hogwarts itself. The last wall contained another single bed but this one was made neatly.

"It used to be Dudley's second bedroom but it became mine and Harry's after we got our Hogwarts letters. Harry used to sleep there", she pointed to the unmade bed with her right hand, "And I slept there", she used her other hand to point to the made bed which Draco followed as they stepped inside.

"Who drew the pictures?"

"Harry drew the pictures of Hedwig and our house crest but I drew the picture of Hogwarts".

"They're pretty good".

"Um...thanks".

"Whenever the Dursley's didn't want to look or deal with us, they locked us in here. Only letting us out to cook or to do chores".

"What about bathroom breaks? Didn't they let you two out for those?"

"Only once a day. Come on, we have to go downstairs again" she responded before she walked past Draco and out of the bedroom. As she pasted by him, she clasped her hand in his again and let him back downstairs.

Back on the main floor, Magnolia walked almost to the kitchen door before she stopped. She pointed to the door underneath the stairs, "That was our bedroom before we got the letter. They locked us in there for the same reason as the bedroom we shared after every year at Hogwarts", she used her wand to cast the unlocking spell on the lock and it sprang open like a gust of wind blew it open, "There was only on bed, one mattress, that Harry and I slept on but it smelt like urine and sweat. No doubt from Dudley when he had the mattress. Our only toys came from Dudley when he was done breaking and destroying them".

Draco used the Lumos spell at the end of his wand as a flashlight to examine inside. It was cramped, smaller than the bedroom upstairs, with the corners and walls covered with dust and cobwebs. On the dusty shelves by the opening, stood broken plastic medieval knights and horses.

"You slept in here?"

"Of course, there were less dust but loads more cobwebs and spiders".

"Spiders? You slept with spiders?"

Magnolia nodded, "They didn't hurt us or anything and we didn't mind them. They minded their own business and we did so too".

"If they stuck you in here when you two were good, I don't think I want to know why they put you when you two were bad".

"I'm going to show you anyway. You wanted to know so I'm going to tell you. _Everything_. Our last stop is the basement. Right this way Draco".

The basement looked worse than the cupboard under the stairs and Dudley's old second bedroom. The basement was unfinished, leaving a cold cement floor, wooden boards and beams that revealed the cheap insulation between that were supposed to be inside finished walls and one single hanging light bulb hung in the centre of the room. With ease, Magnolia reached up and pulled the string to turn on the light which only cast enough light for them to know where the walls were, as she passed. Draco followed her in silence as she walked across the room but he stood frozen in place at what was in front of him. A large metal bar animal cage that looked like it fit some sort of large breed of dog, sat in all it's rusty and disgusting glory.

"What the bloody hell?"

"This. This is where they put us whenever we did accidental magic or if Dudley blamed us for something he did. If we were brought down here, we weren't allowed to eat or have any bathroom breaks and the light would always be off".

"Is that why you're terrified of the dark?"

Maggie silently nodded before she explained, "Whenever I was in here, they would lock me in the cage and the left the light off. It was always so dark, dark enough that you couldn't even tell that there was something in front of your eyes until you went into it. From behind the closed door, I could always hear Uncle Vernon's booming voice complaining about us and than his vibrating footsteps when he came down the stairs to pound me for whatever I did to make him angry. I remember that I used to beg for him to stop but I was always ignored. He knew that I was scared of the dark, that's how I learned my lesson every time I was down here".

"How could these Muggles, your own family, treat you and your brother like this?"

"Simple. They wanted Dudley. Harry and I were just dumped upon there doorstep".

"Maggie-"

"Which leaves my next argument. Would you really want someone with my background apart of your family? My Uncle is as big as a whale and my Aunt is as skinny as a tree. If you want attractive children. Baby, don't marry me".


	7. Chapter Six They Will Get Everything

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** Claimed in the Second chapter.

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 6:

_-I would like to see my sons or daughters  
Laughing, as happy as they could be.-  
They will get everything they want._

_If you don't like what you see than,  
Baby, Don't marry me._

Chapter Six

**~.~**

They will Get Everything They Want

Christmas has arrived, very much to Cassiopeia's delight. The morning sun had just made an appearance over the horizon when Cassi's eyes opened with an excited smile upon her young childish face. As she sat up, Cassi pushed her sheet and bedspread off of her body and swung her legs over to the edge of the mattress. She wore her favourite nightshirt. It was a soft green with flutter sleeves (accompanied with butterfly and floral print) and ruffled hem on the bottom. A picture of Tinkerbell was on the front and the back was the same pattern as on the sleeves. With ease, Cassi gracefully landed upon the cold wooden floor of her bedroom but the coolness of the wood didn't calm the excitement pumping through her veins. It was Christmas after all. With joy that only a child her age could muster on this day, she hurried out of her bedroom and down the hall to her mother's.

Magnolia was sleeping peacefully underneath the covers that represented a cocoon, with her body curled into a foetal position. She had gone the sleep late in the previous night due to the fact that she had to lay out the presents under the tree and make sure that everything was set for the next morning. The curtains, that hung from the windows on each side of the bed, were drawn closed to prevent the morning sun from waking her. Of course, she shouldn't be worried about the sun's rays awaking her but her very own flesh and blood. It wasn't long before Cassi slowly opened the creaking door and peaked inside before she entered and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Cassi found her mother's form hiding under the covers, asleep. Cassi decided that it was Christmas and everyone should be up to open the awaiting presents downstairs. With a quick run towards the bed, she jumped and landed like a cat upon the bed. The jolt from her landing caused Magnolia to wake up and sit straight up in the bed. Before she could really wake up, Cassi began talking.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas! C'mon, let's open presents!"

"Cassi. Cassi stop" Maggie intervened "Please, what are you doing?"

"It's Christmas Momma, let's go open presents now".

"Not right now Cassi".

"Why not?"

"Because it's too early. Come" Maggie tiredly gestured for her daughter to join her under the warm covers, which Cassi did, "You see the numbers on the clock? Right now it shows a six and two zeros. If you can't go back to sleep like Momma, than stay quiet and don't wake me up until the clock shows a seven, a four and a five. Okay?"

"Okay Momma" Cassi responded as she snuggled underneath the covers and turned over so her back was facing her mother but turned her neck so she looked at her mother's face, "Good night. I mean, good morning".

Maggie barely gave her daughter a small smile before she was asleep again.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Unlike her mother, Cassiopeia couldn't go back to sleep. She didn't even have to try to close her eyes, Christmas adrenaline was still pumping through her system. Deciding that she couldn't lay still anymore, she turned over to face her sleeping mother she gave her a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Sleep tight, Momma" before she crawled out of bed and left the room.

The house was quiet whenever she was the only one awake. Sometimes, it was an eerie quiet; like what you could feel on a stormy night and sometimes it was a peaceful quiet like this morning. From six to seven-forty five was a _long_ time to be waiting for someone to wake up so, to pass the time Cassi went back into her bedroom to grab a book before she went downstairs to the living room.

Upon reaching the doorway of the decorated living room, Cassi's eyes widened at the sight of all the presents under the tree. Cassi couldn't help but curl her fingers tighter around the book she was hold in excitement. What a wonderful holiday, Christmas was. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to read the names on the tags to see how much she got. She dropped her book at her feet and hurried over to the large piles of presents.

She was so excited about the presents that she didn't hear the roar of the fireplace when someone used the Floo Network. Only when the sound of the visitor's voice spoke from behind her, did she realize that she wasn't alone.

"Cassi? What are you doing?"

The little girl jumped in surprise at the sound of the voice and turned around to the man who stood in way of the fireplace.

"Draco. Momma's still sleeping upstairs. I-I just wanted to count how many presents Santa brought me".

"Is that so?" Draco questioned.

"I mean, I wanted to count them because I was curious".

"Santa might look at this as a naughty act".

Cassi quickly stood up from where she was squatting in front of the presents and turned around to face Draco, "I didn't mean to be naughty. Oh Draco, please don't tell Santa" she begged.

"It's okay, I won't tell him. Why is your mother still sleeping?

"She said that it was too early to be up".

"Too early? Doesn't she know that it's Christmas?" Draco played along with Cassi's childish excitement of the holiday.

Cassi nodded, "I know, but she doesn't think so".

"Why don't you go wake her up so these presents don't have to wait to be opened any longer?"

"What if Momma gets angry because I woke her up too early. I'm not supposed to wake her up until the clock has a seven, a four and a five".

"Alright" Draco agreed with a nod than gestured to the book that she left on the floor before he bent down to pick it up, "What's this doing on the floor?"

"I dropped it when I saw all the presents. I was gonna read it after I counted how many presents I got from Santa".

"Well, perhaps I can assist you in reading it. I haven't read this book in quiet a long time. Since I was your age".

"You've read The Tale of Beedle the Bard?" she asked with amazement.

Draco nodded, "Of course. My own mother used to read it to me when I was about Teddy's age".

"Will you do the different voices like Momma?"

"Is there any other way to read a story?" he asked, playing along once again.

Cassi giggled before she took his offered hand and they sat on the couch across the room from the decorated tree.

"Cassi? Where are you slippers?" he asked when he noticed her bare feet.

"Up in my room" she answered.

"Go put your slippers on please" he requested of her.

"Okay" she responded and hurried up the stairs to put on the soft green ballet flat slippers with matching floral and butterfly print on the bow at the beginning of the the toe. The slippers matched her nightshirt perfectly. When she returned, Draco was still sitting on the couch with the book on his lap.

"Much better" he praised as she came to sit back down beside him. With her feet tucked to side, she leaned her body against Draco's, who swung an arm around her to keep her close before he laid the blanket; that stayed on the couch, around her.

"Here we go" he announced as he pulled the cover open and than began to read to her.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Nearly two hours later, the faint creaking of the stars on the staircase caught the hearing of the two early risers in the living room.

At the sound of the stairs, Cassi's attention left the intense plot line of the short story that was being read.

"Momma!" she cried out with excitement as she quickly untangled herself from the blanket to jump off the couch and run out of the room, which Draco wasn't ready for since he accidentally dropped the book that he held in his hands to the floor when her knee knocked his wrist. As Cassi ran out of the room, Draco bent down to pick up the book from his childhood with a small chuckle on his lips.

Christmas has always been an exciting holiday, for any child; Wizard or Muggle. But Draco never remembered being as excited as Cassi. Perhaps it was because he always knew that he was going to receive everything he asks for so there weren't any surprises for him to open. Since he's been going out with Magnolia, he learned that surprises were a must on Christmas; despite the fact that _everyday_ was a surprise with her. He could never make a steady plan when something involved her because something would always happen, like being, being harassed by newspaper reporters, being called in for an extra hand at Saint Mungo's or her accidentally pasting pasta sauce on his freshly pressed dress shirt. Magnolia was always brought surprises with her, wherever she went. And he was certain that today wouldn't be very different.

After Draco placed the book on the couch, the spot where Cassi once occupied, he joined the young girl in the hallway. Magnolia was just coming down the last few steps when he arrived. She didn't look very awake; with her hair in a messy ponytail, her eyes hardly open and a yawn escaping from her lips. She wore a flannel pyjama set with green, blue and white coloured Christmas tree balls on a red background printed on them. The flannel shirt was opened and left unbuttoned to reveal a green camisole tank top underneath.

"Hi, Momma" Cassi greeted happily.

"Morning" Maggie yawned at her happily.

"Can we open presents now?" Cassi asked with glee.

"Let your mother wake up first" Draco chuckled at the child's antics.

"But she is up" the girl argued gently.

"Why don't you and Cassi go into the living room and I'll bring you your morning cup of tea?" Draco suggested kindly.

"That would be lovely" Maggie replied before she gave him a kiss on the lips, "Thank you".

"No problem. Go sit and I'll be right in".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

By the time Draco returned to the living room with Maggie's tea steaming in a mug, the pile of presents that were once in one large pile, was now three separate piles. Each pile was a different theme, the receiver's name. Maggie sat in Draco's previous occupied spot on the couch with the blanket opened and laid across her lap and Cassi sat near her large pile of presents on the floor.

"Now, can we open presents. I wanted to open them when the clock had a six and two zeros but I had to wait sooo long-"

" Yes, Cassi. You've waited long enough. You can open them now" Maggie giggled.

"Yay!" Cassiopeia vocally celebrated with a wide smile and than dove into her pile. It take long for her to rip the wrapping paper off and gawking at what Santa brought her. She received numerous colouring books with crayons, markers and pencil crayons, books, dolls to play with, a Potions kit, a fake wand, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Both Maggie and Draco watched her in silence as Cassi opened those gifts and Maggie sipped on her tea. As Cassi ripped opened more and more beautifully wrapped presents, Draco couldn't help but wonder why she received so many. Sure, he purchased quite a few for her himself but Maggie seemed like she bought out the whole Wizarding World. Draco shifted his gaze over to the right to look at her. He didn't think that she noticed that he was watching her; Maggie was too focused on watching her daughter open the rest of the presents, that she desired to have in her young life, with an affectionate smile.

"Maggie" Draco called softly to gather her attention but not to distract Cassi.

At the sound of her name being called, she turned her gaze towards Draco; her smile still intact on her angelic face.

When Draco got her full attention, he continued, "Why did you buy so many gifts for Cassi?"

Maggie's smile vanished into a frown at his question and she moved her gaze away from her beloved's silver eyed gaze.

With a patience that Draco seemed to have learned from being around her for so long, he waited for her to answer. It wasn't long before his patience paid off.

"You know how my childhood was. Harry and I never really got gifts from anyone, until we came to the Wizarding World. I-I would like to see my sons or daughters; laughing, as happy as they could be. They will get everything they want_. _If you don't like what you see; than baby, don't marry me".

**To Be Continued…**


	8. Chapter Seven I'm Devoted to my Lovely

**Written By:** xxPyRaxx

**Disclaimer:** Claimed in the second chapter.

"Don't Marry Me"

Verse 7:

_I'm devoted to my lovely daughter,  
And she is my pride and joy,  
I would always side with her against you,  
Baby, Don't marry me._

**Author's Note:** I know that I haven't been updating very often and I am sorry but I have been VERY busy with school work. Since I am a full-time student, I have a huge work load and I also have a lot of assignments that were coming due and also midterms and finals to pass. And now I am going through my first placement which provides me with LOADS of work to get done. It is a four week placement so my last day will be on June 7th. I will try to post the LAST two chapters for this fiction sometime after my last day. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Please Stay with me!

Chapter Seven

**~.~**

I'm Devoted to my Lovely Daughter

After Christmas, the rest of winter slowly crawled into spring like molasses. Eventually, the snow melted and disappeared, leaving puddles of water in the fresh green grass and onto the paved streets. It didn't take long for the toys that Cassi received from Santa, to be left all over the floor of the townhouse. Magnolia has stepped on countless of her new toys and she slipped on Cassi's toy wand a few times.

Shortly after Christmas, Draco had been spending more and more time in the house and it wasn't long before Draco moved in. Little Cassi saw it as another playmate in the house. Maggie saw it as another hand to help around the house and Draco saw it as the next step in their near marriage— once she says yes.

Magnolia wasn't wrong, Draco was helpful around the house. He helped with cooking and he also he helped take care of Cassiopeia; not that he didn't do any of those things before. In the last few weeks, Draco had another task under his belt; helping young Cassi learn her lines for the school's play. The play was a Muggle classic; The Wizard of Oz and Cassi was playing the green skinned Wicked Witch of the West. At the beginning of the practices, Draco had no trouble voicing his confused understand of why Muggles thought so poorly of the Wizarding World or criticizing over small aspects such as wearing black hats. At first, Maggie answered and responded to each of his questions and compliments seriously but than as Draco's wonders became more and more ridiculous, Maggie couldn't help but giggle in amusement; which only caused Draco to end with a mumble that "I will never understand Muggles".

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Cassiopeia was excited to be in the play and playing a witch, just like she knew her mother was, but Cassi didn't understand why she was playing such a mean witch. As soon as she realized that her character wasn't nice, the excitement of being in the play quickly faded and it turned into defiance.

"I don't wanna be in the play anymore" Cassiopeia said as she came from the living room after another practice with Draco.

"Why not? You were so excited to be in it" Maggie responded.

"My character is so mean Momma".

"Cassi, your character is supposed to be mean. That's why she's wicked".

"I don't wanna be mean, Momma" Cassi replied, "Lola is my friend".

Lola was playing the lead in the play, she was playing the role of Dorothy Gale.

"Come here Cassi" Maggie beckoned to her daughter as she walked away from the kitchen counter, where she was preparing dinner for that night.

With devotion, Cassi followed her mother out of the kitchen and towards where she just came from.

"Cassi, I told you not to bug your mom" Draco blurted out when he saw them come in.

"It's okay Draco" Maggie responded, "I don't mind. But could you finish dinner please?"

"Uh, yeah sure".

"You just have to finish chopping the vegetables and than but them in the stew. Thank you" she thanked as Draco stood up from he couch.

"No problem" he responded and than when he was close enough, he pressed his lips to hers for a quick kiss before he continued on his way.

Maggie and Cassi sat beside each other on the couch.

"Now. Tell me why you don't want to be a part of the play anymore?"

With a sigh, Cassi snuggled up to her mother's side. She placed her head on her mother's shoulder and wrapped an arm around the front of her waist.

"I don't wanted to be wicked".

"You're not going to really be mean to Lola" Maggie tried to explain so her daughter would be able to understand, "So you won't really be hurting her feelings".

"I don't understand Momma" Cassi replied as she look up at her mother. Mother and daughter locked gazes for a few seconds before Maggie thew her head back and sighed. How could she explain this simple enough for Cassi to grasp?

"Um... you like to play dress up," Maggie stated which Cassi nodded to, "When you wear Momma's clothes and make up you pretend you're Momma, right?"

"Yeah" Cassi responded and she cuddled closer to her mother's warmth, "It's fun being you".

Maggie smiled a very small smile, "Well, you're not really Momma when you play dress up. It's , only for pretend".

Cassi nodded once more and Maggie began to run her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"Being in this play is a lot like when you pretend your Momma when you play dress up. You're dressed up like a mean witch and being mean to Lola's dress up character, but you're _not_ being mean to your friend. I don't think your teacher would let anyone be mean to each other. Do you think she would do such a thing?" Maggie asked her little girl as she looked down at her.

Cassi shook her head negatively, "No. She doesn't like it when someone is mean to others".

"That's right" Maggie agreed, "You see, you're being mean to Lola's dress up character _not_ to Lola. Understand now?"

Cassi nodded.

Silence enveloped the room for a few minutes before Cassi broke it.

"Momma, are witches really mean?" the girl asked, "Like my play character is?"

Maggie didn't answer right away because she had to stop herself from saying yes, since she was thinking of Bellatrix Lestrange, but she didn't want to scare her child into thinking that being a witch was a bad thing...like she herself was taught.

"There are more good witches like the Good Witch of the North than there bad witches like the Wicked Witch of the West but it is the nice and good witches that get far in life. Remember that Sweetheart."

"Okay Momma".

"Do you think I will be a good witch or a bad witch when I get my letter?"

"Oh, you'll definitely be a good witch because you already care about your friends, like Lola".

"Yeah, and you Momma. And Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. And Teddy and Draco, and-"

Maggie laughed, "Yes, you have a very large heart to care about all those people. I believe that you will be a _very_ good witch" and than Maggie placed a loud kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Momma, I don't want to read my lines anymore" Cassi complained.

"That's alright Sweetheart, you can practice more tomorrow. Would you like to go play in your room or would you like to help me and Draco with dinner?"

"Play in my room".

"Okay, Sweetie. I'll come get you when dinner is ready".

With that said, Cassi hopped off the couch and made her way upstairs to her bedroom.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

"What was that about?" Draco asked once Maggie joined him in the kitchen. Draco stood at the counter with his back towards her, slicing and chopping vegetables for the stir-fry.

"Don't worry about it, Drake. I explained the misunderstanding. What did you do while I was talking?"

"I put the chicken in the wok, so it's cooking now, and I'm just finishing the vegetables".

"Okay, I put the noodles on before you took over. So, there's nothing left to do once the vegetables are in the wok too".

"We have some time to kill than" Draco concluded much to slyly.

"And just what do you have in mind?"

Draco came closer to her. He was close enough for their bodies to just graze each other before he turned her around so her back was facing his chest. With ease he wrapped his arms around her stomach and pulled her closer until their bodies did this time press against each other.

"There's lot's we can do", Draco answered and his arms tightened slightly around her slim waist

"We could talk", Draco pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"We could laugh", Draco pressed a kiss to her jaw.

"We could kiss", Draco pressed a kiss to her neck.

"We could-" Draco began to say with his lips hovering over her shoulder but Maggie cut him off.

"Not with Cassi upstairs, we're not" she protested at his next suggestion.

Draco smiled before he pressed his lips to her shoulder before he continued with his mouth so close to her right ear, "Fair enough" he whispered, "If you don't want to do any of those other suggestions than we could always...dance".

Maggie never noticed that with each kiss he pressed against her skin and each suggestion he spoke, Draco's fingers were intertwining in her's until with the very last word that she whispered in her ear. Maggie let out a gasp of surprise as Draco tightened his fingers around hers and than whipped her around as she was pushed away from Draco's warmth and spun across the the kitchen and she gently crashed into the side of a counter.

Draco couldn't help but to laugh at the surprised expression upon her face. Unlike Draco, Magnolia was not amused.

"Draco!" she scolded, "That wasn't funny".

"Yes it was" Draco laughed

"You're going to pay for that, Malfoy" she vowed as she turned and gave him a glare.

"Oh, my last name. I haven't heard that in a long while" he teased her, "Honestly through I prefer it when you moan my name in pleasure after we-"

"Draco!" she yelled for him to stop talking "Cassi is right up stairs. Be quiet!"

Than she ran after him. Magnolia chased him all round the main floor and Draco halfheartedly gave her small obstacles that she could easily conquer such as placing a chair in her path and she successfully caught him by casting a feet-tangling charm on his legs; which caused him to fall forward.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

A few weeks passed and since than Draco has been planning a celebration party for himself in honour of solving his 75th case. He invited all of his partners and co-workers in the Auror department and even some of Magnolia's friends and co-workers from the hospital, so Maggie wouldn't be bored during the party. Draco arranged for a few house-elves, including Kreacher, to help serve drinks and appetizers for all the guests to enjoy while communicating with one another.

After much waiting, the night had finally arrived. Throughout the morning and afternoon, Draco; with the help from the house-elves, worked on turning the main hallway, the dinning hall and the ballroom of Malfoy Manor into an extravagant event. While he got the rooms ready, he appointed Maggie and Cassiopeia to go out to find and purchase a beautiful dress robes for them to wear that night, and the robes would be on his tab. For the day, Cassi and Maggie had done what Draco had requested of them and purchased two dress robes. They shopped everywhere; from Diagon Alley to other wizard shops from other countries, just to find two perfect dresses and they did.

By the time Maggie and Cassi returned to the manor, it was just about time for the three of them to change for the party.

"How was the dress hunt, ladies?" Draco asked the two of them when he saw them enter the dinning hall. The hall was decorated with flower arrangements along the perimeter of the room and as centre pieces on the one long table to sit at once dinner was served.

"Oh Draco, we went to so many places!" Cassi exclaimed in excitement as she hurried toward him.

"You did? Where did you two go?"

"Well, first we went to Diagon Alley but didn't find anything there. So than we went to France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Scotland,-"

"Cassi" Maggie chuckled, "Take a breath".

"Did you find a dress?" Draco asked with a smile.

Cassi nodded, "Yes! Oh Draco, I love my dress. Momma even let me pick it out myself".

"Did she? Well, where is this dress that you picked?"

"Already upstairs and hanging in her closet" Maggie answered.

"You mean I don't get to see the dresses even though I paid for them?" Draco teased lightly.

"Not until the party" Maggie responded before looking at her daughter, "C'mon, let's go get ready. I bet the guests will be here any minute".

"Okay Momma" Cassi agreed before she headed up the grand staircase.

Magnolia turned to follow her daughter, only to be stopped when Draco gently grabbing her upper arm and turning her to face him.

"I hope it will be like that for our wedding. Having to wait until the moment of the wedding to see you wearing your white gown.

"Draco, we may not be getting married. Besides, in case you haven't noticed. I gave birth, I really don't think that I will ever wear white...especially at a wedding".

At those words, Draco's grip loosened and his mouth hang up in shock.

"Maggie" Draco whispered but he was at a loss of words.

"Don't Draco. Just leave it. Now, if you'd excuse me. I have to go up and get ready for the party".

Draco felt his heart tighten as he felt her arm whisper along the pads of his fingers as she pulled it out of his grasp and than walk away. It was not only the words that she spoke that shocked him but how she said them. Just from her tone of voice and the sadness in her eyes, she truly believed that she didn't deserve to wear the colour of purity and innocence. He knew and understood that how Maggie ended up with Cassi wasn't her fault, it was something out of her control and yet she took the blame for it.

A while later, the invited guests have arrived. They all poured through the front door of the manor and scattered into the large ballroom. The men wore tuxedo dress robes and the women wore elegant gowns to celebrate Draco's success. Since it was Draco's party, he was the one who answered the door each time new arrivals arrived but both Maggie and Cassi were at his side.

Magnolia wore an emerald green short chiffon ruched babydoll style cocktail dress that reached just lightly above her knees. It had one shoulder strap with a flower applique and semi-sweetheart neckline. It was a beautiful dress that outlined her amazing curvy figure and showed a little bit of cleavage for Draco. She also wore a pair a very simple green high heeled shoes that matched the colour of her dress. Her hair was left down and it was curled into perfect ringlets.

Standing beside the elegant looking Magnolia, stood Cassiopeia. The six year old wore a very simple ivory white dress that reached just lightly past her knees with a Peter Pan collar and slightly puffy sleeves. Towards the bottom of the trim was a capital cursive C that was sewn into the fabric and tied around the waist was a thick emerald green ribbon that was tied into a bow with the tail ends hanging to about Cassi's lower back. Cassi also wore a pair of ivory white rounded toed dress shoes and matching green dress socks. Unlike Maggie's, Cassi's hair was left straight; only her hair was tied with matching ribbon from the dress, into a tight French braid.

Throughout the whole evening, Draco couldn't help but watch how his future wife— he hoped, interacted with the guests like a true mistress of the house. She greeted each and everyone guest with a smile, a handshake and a conversation openers such as asking how business was or how the rest of their families were. And as the night went on, Magnolia stood by his side with a small glass of golden honey mead in her hand and listened to the conversation that was being spoken in front of her. Half way through the conversation that Draco was having with another gentleman, Draco turned his attention to his girlfriend.

"You don't have to, stay by my side the whole time" Draco told her with kindness, "There are a lot of people here Maggie. Go on and find your friends".

"Are you sure Draco? I mean-"

"Yes. I am very sure. I can't can't be selfish and make you stay with me all night. I bet you're bored listening to us men talk about business and such. Go friend someone to talk to, I believe your brother invited some of the Weasleys".

"If your sure" she responded. Draco could tell both in her voice and on her face that she was relieved to be dismissed.

Draco raised one of her hands to his lips to kiss the back of her hand before telling her one last time to go have some fun.

Being the polite lady that she was, Magnolia said goodbye to the gentleman that Draco was talking to and left to go find someone she knew.

As Magnolia retreated, the two gentleman held a small conversation of their own about her.

"She is something" the male gentleman asked.

"That she is" Draco responded before taking a sip of his firewhiskey.

"Where ever did you get her?"

"Hogwarts" Draco answered, "We've been dating since about half way through our fourth year".

"You are a very lucky man".

"I know".

"And that child of her's-"

"Cassiopeia" Draco injected just before he took another sip of his drink.

"Yes. Yes. Little Miss Cassiopeia. She is quite energetic. How do you keep up with her?"

"It is hard sometimes. Especially just after she has sugar but she knows when she needs to calm down".

"Sounds like she keeps you young...at heart at least".

"Both Cassi and Maggie do. Maggie is just as playful and energetic as her little girl. Maggie is amazing. She beautiful, intelligent, witty, resourceful, beautiful, fun, sympathetic, understanding, an amazing cook...have I mentioned that she's beautiful?"

"Yes" the man chuckled, "that would be the third time".

"Oh".

"You are quite infatuated with her" the man complimented with a knowing smile.

"I know. I have been since the minute a saw her on the train to Hogwarts in first year. I did everything I could to impress her-"

"It worked. You've got her".

"Not yet. I'll finally have her when she agrees to be my wife".

"How is that deal coming along, is she running out of reasons for you to change her mind?"

"I don't think so, but whatever she tries to convince me of it only makes me fall more and more in love with her".

"And if she says 'no'...?"

"Than I'll wait for her. I'll wait until we are both old and grey and I'll keep asking her for her hand every week- no every day to both remind her that I still love her and that I won't stop asking until she says 'yes'".

"I think she won't agree without a strong fight".

"She wouldn't be Magnolia Potter if she didn't" Draco agreed with a chuckle and took another swing of his firewhiskey. As quickly as the conversation began over Draco's beloved began, it was over and they continued the conversation they were having before.

Magnolia wandered around the crowd, doing her best to avoid colliding with someone and spilling the wine, all the while scanning the people for any face that she may recognize. Only, the faces that surrounded her seemed to be all from the Auror department in Draco's or Harry's division.

"What is a beautiful young lady like you drinking such vile liquid?" a familiar voice whispered into her ear.

Maggie turned around to see who's face belonged to that voice. Her eyes widened in surprise and a smile formed on her lips.

"George!" she exclaimed happily and than through her arms around him, causing the wine to twirl around in the glass before settling.

"Careful" George chuckled, "I'm going to smell like honey".

"Sorry. Oh, I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?" Maggie asked as she drew away from him.

"I've been well. I've been well. I see that you haven't let yourself go since Cassiopeia came along. You still look as pretty as you did when you first came to Hogwarts. Still on Malfoy's arm, I noticed".

"Yes" Maggie agreed, "We're still together".

"And I bet the two of you are are inseparable".

"Probably".

"I haven't seen the two of you since you two came into the joke shop three years ago".

"I know. Everything has been so hectic and busy. I'm sorry, we meant to pay you a visit but-"

"It's okay Mag. Really".

"How is the joke shop going?"

"Better than I thought it would be".

"And the products are still safe...I hope".

"Of course. Of course. I don't want my customers to become ill, that would make me lose business and I can't have that. I need to make a living. Your safety regulations and cures for when products go AWOL, and that gives you business, doesn't it not?"

"It's not like I hope for patients to come pouring in" Maggie objected.

"I know. You're much too motherly".

"I don't know whether to be offended or not".

George chuckled in amusement, "No need to be offended" he told her as he wrapped an arm around her back and began to guide her toward the wall and away from the middle of the room, "It was definitely a compliment. You know, there is a rumour going around".

"A rumour?"

"Yeah, rumour is that you and Malfoy are getting married".

Maggie immediately stopped in her tracks, "What?"

"Yeah, the rumour is already all over Britain".

"How long as this rumour been going around?"

"Oh, about a couple of months".

"A couple of months?" she exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, well for a while now. Everyone sees you two as already married only minus the wedding bands".

"They do?"

"You never noticed?"

Magnolia shook her head.

"Oh Maggie" George shook his head and teased, "For being sorted into Ravenclaw, you are not very clever when it comes to the relationship between you and Malfoy".

"Well excuse me for not being in as many relationships that you have".

"You are forgiven".

"Gee thanks" Magnolia responded with an eye roll but that only caused George to chuckle again.

"Is that all I do for you?" Maggie asked him, "A source of entertainment that you can chuckle at?"

"Yes, now. Um...where's Little Cassi? I haven't seen her in years."

"Practising her lines for a school play".

"Yes, I remember Cassi tell me about it. Honestly, a green skinned witch. Muggles certainly have an amusing sense of humour. When is this play?"

"Um..."

"Cassi tells me that is tonight".

"What?"

"Yes, she was afraid to remind you?"

"Why? Why did she tell you? Why was she afraid to tell me?"

"She just wanted me to give you small hints to help remind you besides she thought you had enough on your plate.

A shocked looked came upon her face, "What?"

"That's what she told me" George shrugged.

"I-I have to go" Maggie said as she turned around in many circles trying to find a place to set the glass that she still held down upon but did not find a table, "Um...can you do something with this?" she asked as she handed him her glass, "I have to find Cassi. If we can leave now, we can probably make it. Uh, where is she?"

"The last I saw her, she was out in the hall".

"Thank you. I promise that Cassi and I will visit more often," she leaned in and gave him a quick hug and said goodbye before she hurried to find her daughter.

Magnolia didn't need to look hard since she found her playing out her lines a few feet away from the room.

"Cassi" Maggie called out for her which she got a response for.

"Hi Momma" Cassie greeted back.

"C'mon, it's time to go".

"Where are we going?" she asked as she took her mother's outstretched hand.

"First, you are going up to your room to grab your costume while I go talk to Draco, than you and I are going to your school".

"Oh, you remembered" Cassi smiled, "Or did Uncle George drop hints?"

"Uncle George may have dropped the tiniest of hints...but I remembered the rest. C'mon or we're going to be late. When your finished getting your costume on, wait outside in the foyer and I'll meet you there. Hurry Honey".

"Okay Momma" Cassi responded before running up the stairs to the room the Malfoy's gave her "while they were visiting.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Magnolia made her way through the crowd once more, this time to find her boyfriend who was chatting among his coworkers and Slytherin friends. She didn't really know what or who they were talking about but they were laughing when she reached them.

"Hi Maggie" Draco greeted her and wrapped an arm around the back of her waist, "How are you enjoying the party?"

Maggie decided to just cut to the chase instead of wasting time, "I have to go".

"What?" one of the friends, Blaise Zabini, replied.

"I have to go. I completely forgot that Cassi has to play tonight. I have to go. We should be back in a few hours" she told them before she leaned in to give Draco a quick kiss on the cheek and bade them goodnight before she hurried out to meet her daughter.

"Did you know that Cassiopeia had her recital tonight?" Blaise wondered.

"No" Draco replied.

"Oh, well" Pansy responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

From the corner of his eye, Draco saw movement outside of the door and he turned his head to see. He turned his head just to see the hem of Magnolia's coat float by on the way to the front door.

Draco turned his attention back to his friends, trying his best to involve himself back into the conversation that surrounded him. His friends from Hogwarts chatted about gossip about their careers and any other student from school. Draco tried to listen and engage in the conversation but his thoughts were preoccupied with a topic that was not about the conversation that was going on around him. He couldn't but help remind himself the look of both disbelief and shame that shone in her eyes as she kissed him before she and Cassi left. He probably wouldn't admit it but he felt ashamed of himself for throwing a party on the same day as Cassi's school recital, even though it was unintentional. Even though it wasn't by blood or 'official', Draco had always seen Cassiopeia as his own daughter, even when he first met her in the year that the students returned to the school after the war against Lord Voldemort for the seventh and final year. Draco felt like tonight didn't feel fair. After all, he can host any number of parties whenever he liked but Cassi. Cassi had only one night for her school play. No, it was fair.

"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing?" when she saw him take out his wand.

"You'll see" he replied before he uncharacteristically climbed up onto one of the tables before he pressed the tip of his wand to his throat and cast a spell that caused his voice to echo through the ballroom.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

It was an hour by the time Draco reached the muggle school that Cassiopeia went to and it didn't take him long to get to the school's gymnasium since he had been there before with Magnolia. Inside of the gymnasium, it was a crowded place. Across the room was the stage that was being used for the play that was going on. The wide space from where he stood and the stage was full of proud parents watching their offspring perform. Draco pulled out his wand to cast a quick location spell to find his girlfriend among the crowd of people before he cancelled the spell and put his wand away before any of the Muggles noticed. Draco hurried over to where Magnolia was sitting and watching her daughter. He did his best to avoid stepping on toes as he went into the rows and meet Maggie where she was seated. Luckily, there was still an empty chair beside her.

"Hi" he whispered as he sat down beside her.

Maggie turned her head and her eyes widened at the sight of him, "Draco, what are you doing here?"

"I came to do the same thing you are doing".

"But what about the party?"

"Sent everybody home and the house-elves are picking up the mess".

"Oh. You didn't need to stop the party and you should've stayed; enjoyed the fun".

"I could have but I did not want to. Besides I've been hearing Cassi recite her lines for months now and I want to see her perform them. It's not everyday that I get to see her become a wicked witch with green skin".

With a smirk on his lips, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers for a quick passionate kiss before he pulled away and focused his attention to the performance before him. As the two of them watched the school play, their fingers intertwined together as they held each others hand.

At one point Maggie squeezed Draco's hand in thanks for leaving his party to watch Cassi.

Draco responded with his own hand squeeze to say that he wouldn't have missed it for the world.

**To Be Continued…**


	9. AN: Boston System Crash

**An Author's Note from xxPyRaxx**

Hey to all of my readers!

Okay here's the deal.

I haven't forgotten to update on my _Baby, Don't Marry Me_ fanfiction for Harry Potter, I have been working on all the chapters so I could post them and than work on the next installment of the series. I was just about finished the very last chapter for _Baby, Don't Marry Me_ and ready to post the last few chapters.

About two weeks ago, my mother and I took a short trip to Boston for a few days. I brought my laptop. Mad idea because when it went through the x-ray machine, it wiped **EVERYTHING** out and made my computer crash for a reason I really don't understand. It was getting fixed since than and I only received it today- fixed again- so now I have to rewrite **EVERYTHING** for that installment. So it's going to take a while; but **I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP ON THE SERIES!**

What I am requesting is a lot of time, patience and support for me to rewrite everything.

Thank you and I love all of my readers,

xxPyRaxx


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